Resources Offered in Wake of Student Death

The following message was sent by Superintendent Larry Hook to all district families at approximately 8:14 a.m. on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. The message includes specific resources for families and students to deal with grief. Additional resources on a variety of topics can be found at the FHSD Community Resource List. You will also find a comprehensive list of resources in the message at the bottom of this page. Additional mental health resources can be found here.

Anyone looking to connect with their student's counselor can find contact information at this page.

Dear Forest Hills Families,

It is with deep sadness that I’m writing to share with you information about the death of one of our students. We learned this morning that a Turpin High School student passed away. This is obviously devastating news to the Turpin community and the entire school district. This tragedy will surely touch many students and staff members, and may leave parents searching for ways to communicate with their children and ways to help them cope with their grief.

Please respect the privacy of this student’s family and keep them in your thoughts. We are working to provide resources and support to them at this time.

The district is also implementing a variety of additional supports for students and staff who might need help navigating this difficult time. The Turpin High School administration is working closely with our district TECIP team to respond to this unimaginable tragedy. TECIP stands for Traumatic Event Crisis Intervention Plan and it guides our plans to better meet the psychological and emotional needs of all people impacted by events like this. We have additional counseling staff in Turpin High School today and will offer additional support to anyone who needs it throughout the next couple of weeks. We also have therapists from our community partner, Child Focus, supporting our students.

The TECIP team at Wilson Elementary is also responding to this loss and all school buildings are prepared to support students who may be impacted. Anyone who is struggling with this news can reach out to their school counselor to be connected with necessary resources.

If you would like information on ways you can help your children through their grief, we have provided grief resources on the district website home page (www.foresthills.edu) and the Turpin High School home page, both under the “News” heading. Additional resources may be found by clicking these links: “How to help a grieving child” from Fernside Center for Grieving Children.

This guide offers tips on how to talk with your children, recognize signs of depression and help your children through any difficult situations they may be experiencing. It also lists phone numbers for Hamilton County resources. Particularly in times of tragedy, we are reminded of the importance of maintaining open and on-going communication with children.

Out of respect for the family’s privacy of this student’s family, we are waiting to provide any additional information in accordance with their requests. I know our community will come together to support each other during this difficult time. If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Sincerely,

Larry R. Hook
Superintendent

The following message was shared with FHSD staff and families on Thursday, October 5 at approximately 3:53 p.m. in an effort to provide additional resources to anyone in the school community who might be struggling with this loss.

Forest Hills Families,

The tragic loss of one of our Turpin High School students this week has a lot of us feeling many different emotions. This has, of course, had a direct impact on the Turpin community, but it is a loss that touches all of our schools and our entire community. I wanted to send another message as we head into a long weekend to provide additional information and resources that you may find helpful. With no school for students on Friday or Monday, it may be appropriate for you to have a conversation with your child to see how they are coping with this situation and responding to this loss.

Please know that we are here to support students in any way we can. Our first priority at FHSD is creating a safe and secure learning environment, which includes responding to the mental or emotional needs of our students. Our counseling team at Turpin High School, as well as our Turpin teachers and staff members, have been working tirelessly to meet the needs of our students during this difficult time. All of our schools have stepped up to ensure we are connecting with any student who we know might be struggling, since we understand this kind of situation can be hard to process.

At the bottom of this email, we’ve included a list of various emergency and support resources. Please feel free to review and share these resources with others.

As explained previously, Turpin High School and the entire school district is working to provide additional support to anyone in need. There have been extra counseling staff members present at Turpin today and yesterday. Both Turpin and Wilson activated their Traumatic Event Crisis Intervention Plan (TECIP) team, which guides our response to better meet the psychological and emotional needs of all people impacted by events like this

In addition to the various steps the district has taken to respond to this tragic situation, we continue to implement research-based programs that are designed to support mental health and overall wellness among students and staff. These efforts are wide-ranging, but details about some key aspects can be found on the Wellness section of the FHSD website. Families and community members will find helpful mental health resources, information about school-based supports and details about school counseling services.

Another opportunity that families may find helpful is the upcoming FHSD Parent Academy on Thursday, October 12. This informative series is returning for its second school year and includes sessions on topics that parents of all ages may find helpful, including some that discuss wellness or mental health. You can find a list of topics and register here.

Please keep the family of this student in your thoughts and prayers. I have already seen how our community is able to come together to lift each other up during this tragedy, and I encourage you to continue reaching out to family, friends and neighbors to navigate this emotional situation. I also hope you will encourage your children to reach out to trusted adults at school if they ever need additional support. As educators, our most important role is to meet the needs of our students.

Sincerely,
Larry R. Hook
Superintendent

EMERGENCY AND SUPPORT RESOURCES

• If you, your student, or anyone else you know is in a life-threatening health crisis or emergency, call 911.
• If you, your student, or anyone else you know is in emotional distress or experiencing suicidal crisis, call or text 988, available 24/7.
• If you have concerns about threats to student safety, we urge you to call or text the Safer Ohio School Tip Line at 844-SaferOH. This line is staffed 24/7.
• If you are seeking additional resources, we encourage you to start at the links below:
  
  • FHSD Family Resource List
  • MindPeace
    
    • MindPeace works together with community partners to continue the development and implementation of a seamless system of mental health support for children and adolescents, with a focus on school-based, stakeholder-selected partnerships.

In addition to those resources above, if your student is experiencing a non-life threatening mental health crisis and you need direction on next steps to stay safe, we urge you to call the Psychiatric Intake Response Center (PIRC) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The PIRC line is (513) 636-4124. This line is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The following resources were already shared with Turpin High School families, but we want to alert the rest of our community to the availability of these organizations.

• “How to Help a Grieving Child” from Fernside Center for Grieving Children, (513) 246-9140
  
  • Fernside provides grief support services, outreach and education to the community and families. An affiliate of Hospice of Cincinnati, Fernside services complement Hospice of Cincinnati's comprehensive bereavement program by addressing the unique needs of children.
• Companions on a Journey Grief Support, Inc., (513) 870-9108
  
  • Sheila Munafo-Kanoza, Founder and Executive Director
  • Companions on a Journey Grief Support (COJ) is open to anyone who grieves the death of a loved one. COJ provides over 35 grief specific support groups assisting every type of loss including.
• Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, (513) 636-0069
  
  • The Bereavement Services department of Cincinnati Children's provides bereavement support to families who experience the death of a child or young adult. Bereavement services are provided through StarShine Hospice, our pediatric hospice program, integrated into the Palliative Care Team and part of the overall services provided throughout the medical center.