Last week the administration at Rockville’s Twinbrook Elementary School became aware of an alleged sexual assault on school grounds. The incident happened during recess and involved two students at the school.
Monday morning, a group of parents and administrators gathered to learn about school safety in the wake of the allegation made last week. This was the second Parent Coffee held for this purpose, the first occurring last Friday.
A group of about 20 people were present with an equal mix of school administrators and parents. According to a participant who was at both meetings the parent turnout was about the same on Friday. Attendees signed in and an agenda was distributed. They outlined how to report an incident, safety measures at the school and asked parents to complete an evaluation form.
At the outset of the meeting, Principal Matt Devan shared, “We love our students. We work long hours because we love our students.”
He also informed parents police had been called about the incident. He stated once MCPD began an investigation, the school left the investigation in their hands. A key message was we are “great teachers” not investigators.
Staff members pointed out how they encourage communication from the students, even interviewing each child in the school last year to help students take concerns to “trusted adults.” Last year that policy generated more than 800 documented conversations between students and staff. That number might seem alarming, but the administration saw it as a sign their efforts to encourage information sharing was working.
Various members of the staff and faculty talked through an extensive power point presentation. It laid out protocols for dealing with many kinds of incidents from sexual assault to bullying and intimidation.
After the meeting, parents said they found the meeting “informative.” One parent felt the school has a culture of communication with regular events like the monthly Parent Coffees. She found the post on NextDoor – about the alleged sexual assault – surprising and not consistent with her experience as a Twinbrook mother.
Right now, there is no timeline on when the investigation of the alleged sexual assault will be completed and the outcome shared with faculty and parents of Twinbrook Elementary.
