Join us!
We had some tasty treats last week in our cafeterias!
Lots of important homecoming week updates for students of all ages! Have a great weekend! https://youtu.be/uFyAJ65Y1tg
Attention home school/private school parents/guardians:
****A message from Mrs. Dewey****
Parents/Guardians,
I told you last month that we had additional plans coming for ways to address school safety, student social media use, etc. One of these plans is an upcoming expert speaker who will share with local parents and guardians about the risks of social media for children.
This presentation will take place on Monday, November 11 from 6-7:30 p.m. in Dunbar Auditorium.
Due to the nature of some of the content, children will not be allowed in the presentation, but I am grateful to the MHPTO group for agreeing to provide onsite childcare during this event for those who need it. This presentation is tiered as far as ages go, so parents with children of any age will find it beneficial.
Thanks again to the MHPTO for helping us secure this speaker and for supporting our families in need of childcare during the event.
Allyson Dewey
Superintendent
This is a FANTASTIC opportunity for parent/guardian education -- especially in light of recent social media issues in our area and across the country. Keep in mind, this presentation is for parents/guardians/adult community members only, as there will be explanations of content that might not be suitable for children.
Want to join our team? Join us on Tuesday, October 15 in Dunbar Auditorium from 4-6 p.m. for a job fair!
Some of our students honor our principals for National Principals Month! https://youtu.be/oNCbzlNgWQo
Our annual flu clinics will be held at all MHPS campuses next week. These clinics are conducted by the Arkansas Department of Health. Packets have been distributed to every student, but if you need a copy, you may contact your child's school nurse to get one. Please fill the packet out completely and send it back to your child's nurse before the clinic date.
Happy National Custodians Day!
Bomber Update - https://youtu.be/fbkqUfM47L8
Mr. Helmert also recommends visiting this site for more information about our standard response protocol: https://iloveuguys.org
Last Wednesday our staff received their Bomber t-shirts from Arvest Bank. This has become an annual tradition that EVERYONE looks forward to! We appreciate Arvest Bank so much. It's always fun to see familiar faces when they deliver the shirts as well! Thank you!!!!!
Homecoming 2024 Info!
This week Mrs. Dewey and Mrs. Rauls highlight the MHHS White Coat Internship Program. https://youtu.be/39hmML6J-Oc
This morning we received notification of another social media threat of violence. This post listed "MHS" as the school in question. While this post did not appear to be targeted toward our district, we did pass this information along to authorities the moment we received it. Law enforcement has confirmed the post did not originate here, and it appears to be referring to a completely different school/district.
Please talk to your children about the importance of not spreading these threats but immediately reporting them to an adult. Re-sharing these posts rather than reporting them is never the answer. We know these possible threats are concerning and scary, and it is important for the proper authorities to be notified immediately.
Thanks to the HHS Academy at MHHS for helping to share information about The Call!
MHPS Parents/Guardians,
Today our administration was notified that some students were sharing a social media post that included a threat of violence toward an organization or school called “MHS.” This post circulated through a number of local students and was eventually reported to our administration. While this post did not refer to Mountain Home or our schools, we still reported it to the authorities immediately.
Our police department began tracing the post, and in the meantime similar “MHS” threats started cropping up around the country. In fact, a 13-year-old girl was arrested in California for making a “MHS” threat in her district today.
Later in the day we received reports that students told their parents that our buildings were on lockdown. I want to clarify that at no point during the day were we on lockdown. Generally speaking – unless it would cause additional risk in the moment – we will notify you promptly if we are placed in a status of lockdown, shelter, hold, evacuation, etc. for any reason.
This afternoon we received another report of a Snapchat warning classmates. It was not a threat and did not identify MHPS, but we reported it, and our local authorities are looking into it as well.
Please continue to report threats or questionable posts. Make sure the appropriate people – authorities and school administration – have this information so action can be taken quickly.
Thank you,
Allyson Dewey
Bus 62 is currently delayed at Nelson-Wilks-Herron. We are hopeful that the driver will soon be able to continue the route. Thank you.
Bomber Update: Mrs. Dewey addresses this week's social media threat and shares advice for families and students from Mr. Matt Sutton, the district's School-Based Mental Health Coordinator.
https://youtu.be/dxjwW2UbOQ4
To our families and community members,
Law enforcement agencies have been hard at work on the social media threat issue since it was first reported last night, and now I have been notified that the police department has no evidence to suggest this threat originated locally.
While this information does provide some relief, I understand that the original threat post did indicate a date of September 10 for the act of violence. With that in mind, I have decided to excuse student absences again for Tuesday, Sept. 10. However, I want to assure you all that we will have a number of additional safety measures in place tomorrow and in the coming days and weeks.
Tomorrow – and then again on numerous other occasions in the near future – you might see open air searches being conducted by K9s. You might also see staff members who serve on the building crisis teams helping to monitor our campuses. There will be additional law enforcement presence on and around our buildings for the next several days. Some of the law enforcement members will be in uniform while others may be in plain clothes. Please keep in mind that as we implement these crisis measures, there might be specific protocols we follow that we do not make public. We will continue to conduct additional security measures behind the scenes in an effort to best protect our students and staff.
For now I want to assure you that our local PD will continue to follow up on every lead they receive, so if you have any information that might be helpful to the investigation, please call MHPD at 870-425-6336.
Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we navigate this challenge.
Allyson Dewey