In recent weeks I have had the challenging task of communicating with you what our school is doing to keep our children physically safe and the role we all need to play towards that most important of goals. Equally critical to our children’s well-being is their emotional safety and everyone’s responsibility in making sure that no child in the Buckley community is ever made to feel small or excluded.

This is a letter that I am writing to you not only in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision, but also in hopes that I can reach out to you to engage your children in conversations about exclusion. Perhaps this holiday, meant to celebrate the work of a man whose life was dedicated to eliminating racial biases, is our opportunity to have those difficult, yet empowering, conversations, as they are part of our responsibilities as parents.

I often tell children that the only sad days I have at Buckley are days when I hear that one of them has been made to feel excluded from being part of play or other activities. Anyone working with children will tell you that "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me" is an untrue adage. I also remind our students that Buckley does not tolerate exclusion, under any circumstances or for any reason, and that they, too, must take a firm stance against it.


At our assembly on Friday, students were asked if they thought the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was finished. It was obviously a rhetorical question. Let’s teach our children how they can do their part in continuing his work.