The Patrick Henry Post
April 7th, 2023

A Message of Community and Hope
I want to say thank you to our community who rallied around us in our time of need. A senseless crime could have ruined our building, but instead, it brought our community together even stronger than before. Our partners and staff donated their time, money, physical strength, and resources to make sure our school was put back together for our students. We even had people sending us treats and kind messages throughout the week to keep our spirits lifted.
In times like these, it can be easy to focus on the negatives, but in this situation, I can only see the magic of our school community and the support that we have all around us. Thank you to everyone who cleaned our school and made things right for our students. We love you and thank you for your support of our students, our staff, and our school. We truly could not do this without you!
The Impact of the Break-In
Office Break-In Our offices throughout the building were senselessly overturned, creating a mess and disorganization. | Hallways Overturned Our hallways are normally set up as reading nooks to invite our students into a comfortable place to read a good book, but they were knocked over and scattered. | Teacher Resources Our brand new teacher materials for this school year cost us thousands of dollars and weeks of organization, but they were thrown to the floor and some were destroyed. |
Office Break-In
Hallways Overturned
Classroom Chaos Our classrooms take weeks to prepare for our students, and at this point in the school year, our students look at their classrooms like a second home. To see their classrooms like this would have been traumatic for our young students. | Computer Lab Destroyed Our computer lab computers were not stolen, but they were all thrown down and broken - again, a completely senseless act that did not result in anyone gaining anything, but we lost a great deal. | Students Disrespected One disheartening part of this crime was the disrespect we felt towards our students and their hard work - not only was the staff disrespected by their spaces being violated, but the students' work was torn and thrown to the ground and ruined. |
Classroom Chaos
Computer Lab Destroyed
The Miracle of Community
Cleaning Crew Our staff and volunteers sanitized every single surface of every classroom and office. Because everything was knocked to the ground, we did not want our students to touch unclean surfaces. Our Sunday crew came through with sanitizing wipes and sprays and cleaned literally every single thing that our students and staff might touch in their reorganization efforts. | Custodian Hero Team Our first responders included not only the Patrick Henry custodial team, but also several other SLPS schools' custodians and two Zone Managers, who came to Patrick Henry in the early hours of Sunday morning before the sun was even up! They did all of the heavy lifting. We never could have done this restoration without them. | Hallways Restored Our beautiful hallways became beautiful again, and every corner of our building is once again being utilized to provide an inviting learning space for our students. Our furniture was repaired and replaced, and our hallways look warm and inviting once again! |
Cleaning Crew
Custodian Hero Team
Classrooms Reorganized Our classrooms were immediately put back together through sheer physical labor on Sunday morning. Volunteers, staff, and custodians had to really flex their muscles to carry new desks in to replace the broken ones, and it was extra difficult because we do not have an elevator to our top floor! | Reading Nooks Ready Our Reading Specialists, Ms. Emily and Ms. Evans, have worked tirelessly throughout this entire school year to build two beautiful spaces just for comfortable reading. It was devastating to see their hard work thrown on the floor, but it was even more powerful to see their hard work restored to its former glory. It reminded me of just how important these spaces are to us and our students. | Teachers' Lounge Restored This year, we renovated a brand new Staff Lounge to provide a relaxing space for our teachers and staff when they have a short break in the day. Imagine our shock and sadness when that space had been ripped apart, and our brand new furniture was in pieces. Dr. Rogers' husband, Mr. Rob Curtis, drove to Ikea on Sunday and purchased all of the replacement furniture, and our volunteers helped us put it together so that it was ready for staff on Monday. |
Classrooms Reorganized
Reading Nooks Ready
Teachers' Lounge Restored
Thank you, Patrick Henry Community!
