Threats Against Da Vinci Tree
See the video and the two letters below on Da Vinci Tree Security and the bogus threats made against our school and many others.
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Parents and Guardians,
Today at approximately 1:25PM the Tucson Police Department reached out to us to inform us of an unsubstantiated threat against our school and half a dozen others. TPD stressed that after any major national mass shooting there are always multiple, bogus, copycat threats made to schools in the Tucson Unified School District and that we have nothing to worry about. The only difference today was that Da Vinci Tree Academy and Leman Academy of Excellence, both charter schools, were also included in the anonymous threat.
The threat was discovered by a 5th grader at Dunham Elementary on both TikTok and Instagram platforms. She reported it to her principal around 11AM who then immediately called the police and the TUSD district office. We would like to thank Principal Chandler for her fast actions and devotion to keeping all the children in the Tucson community safe.
I personally trust the brave and hardworking men and women at the Tucson Police Department. They deal with this kind of threat on a regular basis with our district colleagues. If they tell us that the threat is unsubstantiated and that we have nothing to worry about (which they are), then Da Vinci Tree will operate as normal. Please know that in the unthinkable event of a school shooting, Da Vinci Tree staff have a plan and are prepared to take action to protect your children.
In the spirit of open transparency and parent educational choice, any family who takes their students out of school early today or who chooses to keep their children home Thursday or Friday will automatically have their absences excused. I will also be asking teachers to extend any deadlines for in-class and homework to accommodate parents.
PLEASE DIRECT ANY AND ALL QUESTIONS TO MYSELF, PRINCIPAL ROLL VIA EMAIL. We are not scaring children by telling them about this, and accordingly, we have yet to communicate this information more broadly to our staff. If you wish to come pick up your children early, please do so quietly without talking about the unsubstantiated threats. We all need to work to protect our children's innocence and mental/emotional wellbeing.
Kind Regards,
Matt Roll, M.Ed.
Principal, Da Vinci Tree Academy
Email: mroll@davincitree.academy
Direct: (520)372-4606 ext. 501
Dear Parents and Guardians,
After the events of Wednesday the 11th, many of you have contacted us requesting more information. When things like this happen it is often easy to panic or get upset. We appreciate everyone's civility, understanding, and patience.
In order to explain to the community how Da Vinci Tree Academy is keeping our kids as safe as possible, Principal Roll recorded this 15 minute video last night. The video seeks to do three things:
Explain in greater detail what happened on Wednesday.
Describe the specific and special things that the school does to be sure that your child is both safe and secure when they are in our care.
Reaffirm our commitment to transparency and clear communication with our parents.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns around safety please feel free to reach out to Principal Roll directly. His address is mroll@davincitree.academy. Email is by far the quickest and easiest way to get a fast response from him on this topic.
Kind Regards,
Da Vinci Tree Staff
Wednesday, September 13, 2024
Parents and Guardians,
The initial unsubstantiated threat from Wednesday seems to have finally trickled down to some of our older students via their social media. I've already spoken with the Tucson Police Department and with the Tucson Unified School District's School Safety Department. For many reasons we all believe this to be the same unsubstantiated threat that's just being forwarded along by new kids. Authorities across the US have been receiving reports of multiple versions of the same vaguely worded threat against most of the major schools in country for the past 48 hours.
The new threats are nothing special - they look like something any internet user could create in five minutes on a meme generator. They didn't even take the time to spell the schools correctly. Again, there is yet to be any evidence of any actual danger.
If your child receives this, let them know that school leadership and the police are all aware and are being extra careful. Please emphasize to them how these kinds of things are not funny, and how we all need to take safety seriously.
These threats are bogus. Regardless, people are legitimately scared. To help all of our parents feel safe, I have arranged for one or more plain clothes, armed guards to be on campus every day for the next two weeks.
We will keep you informed of any pertinent developments. School will proceed as normal on Monday. Everything will be okay.
Kind Regards,
Matt Roll, M.Ed.
Principal, Da Vinci Tree Academy
Email: mroll@davincitree.academy
Direct: (520)372-4606 ext. 501