I could not be more proud of the progress that we made today. Love and support overwhelmed fear, anger, confusion, sadness, and frustration.

We know that we are on a long road to recovery and we are working hard to make sure that supports stay in place for as long as they are needed. That will include the upcoming holiday break.

One of the hardest parts of today was probably just coming to school – and yet you did it! We hope that coming to school tomorrow will be a little bit easier but we realize that the individual nature of grief has highs and lows that may make it difficult. Please know that we will all help each other make it through another day (and another and another and . . .).

We thank all of you for wearing some green today. The Sandy Hook Elementary staff and students would have been proud. We encourage you to wear Blue & Gold tomorrow to continue to show your support for Newtown students.

We are going to have a full day of school across the district tomorrow (except for Sandy Hook Elementary). The high school will be operating on an A-Day so that students and teachers who did not see each other today may connect. If you are scheduled for an Academic Support Center or Study Hall, please report directly to the cafeteria or cafetorium.

This afternoon, we held a faculty meeting to reflect on the day and prepare for tomorrow. I can assure you that there is no staff at any high school in the country that cares more about their students than we do about ours. We will meet again tomorrow after school to reflect and prepare for the next day.

Counseling staff will continue to be available for students, staff, and parents throughout the day. Support centers have been set up in the side gym (students), F-wing offices (teachers), and B141 (parents). Counselors will also be monitoring classrooms and common areas to provide additional support.

Uniformed police officers will continue to patrol the interior of the building and a police cruiser will monitor traffic entering the campus. Media will not be allowed on campus.

Our collective strength and resilience will serve as an example to the rest of the world. Be strong, Newtown.