Education

A rash of incidents involving students bringing “deadly weapons” to school has prompted Los Alamos Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Gene Schmidt to issue a statement regarding the events.

“It is important for the community to know that student safety is non-negotiable and that students who bring weapons to school will be disciplined,” Schmidt said. The full version of his comments can be found by clicking here. “Parents are encouraged to talk with their children about the importance of following rules written in school handbooks.”

Schmidt also stressed in his statement that his coming forward on the issue should not be a cause for alarm. He noted that of the 3,500 students enrolled in the school system, only a few students were caught with what could be called weapons in the past few weeks.

One incident involved a student, who brought a black-handled folding knife with a four-inch blade to school. He was turned in by students, who heard him talking about the knife. Though the incident was reported on a Friday, (Feb. 22) the juvenile wasn’t disciplined until Monday when he made a full confession to authorities about why he brought the knife to school.

Thanks to a new technology initiative going on at the high school, students can no longer say to the teacher, “my dog ate my homework.” In fact, they can’t even say they lost it due to a computer crash or a virus. A program from Google allows everyone — students, teachers and staff — to be on the same page, so to speak.

Officials from Los Alamos High School, as well as members from the district’s tech staff, recently gave a presentation to the Los Alamos School Board about how students are using and adapting to the system, known as “Google Apps for Education.”

The ultimate plan is to have every student in the district using Google Apps for Education.

The program is actually a suite of free, web-based programs by Google, which can all be accessed by opening up a free account on Google. Email, document and spreadsheet creation, calendar and a blogging platform are just some of the applications that have become available.

Wednesday was a moving day for part of the staff at Chamisa Elementary, as teachers and staff helped put their classrooms back together again after flooding damage three weeks ago sent water down through the ceiling and walls of the some parts of the school, damaging several classrooms.

The damage was caused by a “perfect storm” of snow melt followed by freezing cold. The school’s main drainage pipes became blocked with ice, backing up snow melt from the roof, which caused water to enter through the ceiling.

This week, students and teachers started moving everything back into the classrooms located in the school’s “primary pod,” which bore the brunt of the damage.

“Most of the kids have done pretty well. For some it was a little challenging,” second grade teacher Megan Lee said.

Lee shared the library with another second grade teacher until repairs were completed.

“The library was a great place to be, because then the kids could just pick up a book after they were done working,” Lee said.

Chamisa Principal Debbie Smith said the school will be put back together soon.