~ DISTRICT OF C.

OLUMBIA

~ 111 Pi'-' IB!_1'-,

! !" S"Hr-""OL
0!V. c,.
_,~,

Strong John Thomson Elementary School

An International Baccalaureate World School

Office of the Principal

March 17, 2011

Dear Pare nts,

I am writing to let you know about an incident that occurred at Thomson today, how we have dealt with
the incident at school, and how you might deal with it at home. As always, we are committed to
providing a safe environment for your child.

A student brought an unknown substance to school and allegedly gave the substance to four students to
taste. We were notified of this by one of these students.

We investigated immediately. Since the substance was indistinguishable, we contacted DC Metropolitan

Police Department (MPD). MPD determined that the substance was cocaine. The students who allegedly
ingested the substance were checked by the school nurse and by EMT, and all of them are fine. The
students' parents were contacted immediately.

In addition, Child Protective Services was contacted to determine how the substance was obtained. CPS
and MPD are in the process of dealing with the student who brought the substance and the student's
family. The MPD investigation is ongoing.

This is not a situation that is typical at Thomson, and we take it very seriously. At school we will address
drug awareness as a whole-school issue.

I am also asking for your support. I am requesting that you speak with your child about this issue. You
can
assure your child that the adults are making sure they are safe
stress to your child NEVERto take something or put something in their mouth when they are not
sure what it is and talk with an adult right away
stress to your child the importance of telling an adult when they see or hear about drugs
stress to your child not to eat something from another child
ask your child who is the person in their life that they can talk with

Please contact me via email or phone if you have any questions. I will update you if future information
becomes available.

5 TvYOu/
\,
'I
AlbertJP. DuPont, Ed.D.
princiP~.1