Dear Wildcat Nation,
Today was scheduled as our last day in school before the holiday break. I am sorry our students and staff were not able to see one another off. However, as our break begins, I want to thank you for your continued patience, resilience and support during this incredibly difficult time for our school district and the entire Oxford community.
Sadly, this holiday break will be unlike any other our community has experienced. This will be a different and difficult holiday for many in our community. I hope you will have the opportunity to spend time with family and friends this holiday season, as we all need someone by our side right now. I also ask that you keep the families of the victims and those injured in your hearts and prayers. They need our continued support, friendship, and love.
I would also like you to know that throughout the next two weeks, we will be working on the plan for our safe and secure return to school. Obviously, we will keep you updated along the way and seek your continued input.
Our current plan includes DK-8 students returning on Monday, Jan. 3. We will provide more updates as we get closer to that date.
Over the break, we will provide an update on the safe, secure reopening of the high school.
During the break, we will continue the daily work on our high school building. We will continue gathering and taking into consideration the input from our staff, families, mental health professionals, and the contractors working on OHS on when and how we plan the safe return of our high school students and staff. Please, we encourage you to continue sharing your input with us at [email protected].
The mental and emotional health of our students, staff, and school community is our primary focus and concern. Throughout the break, we will continue providing mental health resources to our students, families, staff and our entire Wildcat Nation.
Through a partnership with the Oakland County Health Division and Oakland Community Health Network, we will provide the following opportunities for community mental health support for all Oxford residents, students, and families. These services will be available at the Legacy Center, 925 N. Lapeer Road, Oxford, MI 48371. If you need support and do not want to attend one of these sessions, you can always access support by using the hotlines, 1.800.231.1127 or 1.844.446.4225.
Sessions will be held:
- Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 20- 22, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Tuesday through Thursday, Dec. 28-30, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
We cannot thank the Legacy Center enough for their generosity and constant willingness to support our school community throughout this time. Yesterday, our high school students and staff gathered there for a school-organized event, and it went wonderfully. To see our Wildcats together again with smiles and laughter was a step forward in the healing process.
We have heard countless times from mental health experts over the last two weeks that social interaction and human contact play critical roles in the grieving and healing process. I am sure all of us will be very emotional this holiday break. Please remember it is common to experience a wide range of emotional reactions to a traumatic event like the one our community has endured. Take the time to seek help if you need it and reach out to support your friends and neighbors.
The outpouring of support from our community, the state and the world has helped us pull through these dark and difficult days and has made me even more determined that we will not let this horrific tragedy define us. We will continue on our healing journey together. We will get through this together. And we will emerge stronger than we ever thought possible.
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a safe holiday break.
Oxford StrOng,
Tim Throne