Roxhill robberies: Denny principal’s letter to families

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Denny International Middle School principal Jeff Clark is sharing the letter sent to his school’s families, following up on the Sunday and Tuesday Roxhill Park robberies reported here earlier this afternoon, and he says the district will have a letter for more families tomorrow:

As a result of Denny International Middle School students being the victims of recent crimes in the Roxhill Park area, we are contacting all families to remind them of safety-related recommendations for walking to and from school. Recommendations include walking with other students and heading directly home.

We have contacted the Seattle Police Department and have learned that a detective has been assigned to these cases. If anyone sees any suspicious behavior on the part of anyone in our community, we encourage you to call 911. Also, as always, if any student has any problem on the way to or from school, please tell any staff member at school. Tomorrow, Seattle Public Schools central office will be sending home a letter to all families with children who attend schools in the area.

Sincerely,

Jeff Clark, Principal
Denny International Middle School

iggy January 23, 2013 (5:34 pm)

What’s scary and sad is that the 8th graders were walking in a group of four, so the Principal’s advice to walk with other students didn’t help. Glad the police are on this.

Alki Resident January 23, 2013 (5:51 pm)

I was signing on to say the exact thing iggy. Even a group of twelve kids could’ve easily been taken advantage of with a gun in their face. And to the punks who did this, you watch too much tv with your hit the butt of the gun upside someone’s head tactic. Karma sucks big guy.

JJ January 23, 2013 (10:16 pm)

Maybe the SPD mounted officers that were at Westwood Village on Tuesday can start patrolling that area more; especially when school is getting out.

Royce January 23, 2013 (10:52 pm)

Makes me wanna sit at the park and patrol myself.. Teach those little rascals a thing or two!

eric1 January 23, 2013 (11:22 pm)

Traveling in groups makes sense. Yes, 2 thugs with guns trumps 3 or 4 middle school kids. But they probably won’t do anything more than rob you. Too many witnesses and probably poor marksmanship to assure a clean getaway.
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One or two kids may not fare so well if the thugs don’t collect enough loot or suspect them of hiding something. Could be a lot worse for a lone female.

dsa January 24, 2013 (12:05 am)

guns? You can’t compete with guns.

Cclarue January 24, 2013 (6:27 am)

Great everyone can stop worrying about their kids safety because the principal is going to send a letter. It seems silly at this point as a SPS parent that anytime something bad happens the answer is a letter home and back to business as usual. How about open up the gym for kids to hang out at until parents can pick them up. These boys were in a group. That didn’t help. The attackers had guns. I am so glad they were not hurt any worse. Which could have happened if any of them had popped of at the mouth. I hope the attackers are found before they really hurt someone. It’s bad enough these kids have been traumatized.

SPS Parent Also January 24, 2013 (9:34 am)

Denny Gym is always open and full of kids after school practicing sports. In fact, Denny is full of kids after school hours – there are many after school programs!! Getting kids to participate is also the parent’s responsibility. Knowing where your kids are at all times helps too. These kids have every right to walk around the neighborhood after school! We all need to take responsibility for our community. I emailed Mat and will help with the council. Please do the same.
Denny staff and administration spend many hours concerned with student safety. The letter is important – parents would freak out if they didn’t get one! I doubt it’s “business as usual”; if you took the time to talk to Mr. Clark you would know that is NOT the attitude!

Please don’t blame the school for this, especially when what you’re saying isn’t true. However, making suggestions is great, and getting out and being part of the solution sounds like the way to go!

Anne January 24, 2013 (1:02 pm)

Yes-please no blaming the school. The letter was sent to INFORM parents-might be the only way some would hear about these incidents!!! I’m not sure what else exactly the schools can do-other than work with law enforcement & informing parents, students & the community.
JJ-I was thinking the same thing–that area is perfect for mounted patrols.

WSB January 24, 2013 (1:07 pm)

Also please note, this was some distance from the school. Denny is on the north side of the Denny/Sealth campus, official address on SW Kenyon. So you have to go Kenyon to Thistle to Cloverdale to Trenton (SW Athletic Complex spans those two blocks at its spot), then across all of Westwood Village to Barton, and THEN you are at Roxhill Park. Also, 3 pm – when the person who was approached by the victims the other day says she encountered them – is after school, and then some. Denny starts in the 7 am hour, Sealth in the 8 am hour.

higgins January 24, 2013 (1:09 pm)

Why not allow these kids to carry guns so they can protect themselves?

cclarue January 24, 2013 (1:31 pm)

Anne and Sps Parent also, I did not blame the school. The point I am trying to make is that the answer is not a letter. After the shooting in Newtown we got a letter.No action. It is just PC speak. I would like to see the school be able to offer an alternative that is all.There are tons of parents who work until 5 or later, not everyone gets off work in time to pick up kids at 2 something. Not all kids play sports. What I was talking about was an “until the shooters are caught” kind of place for kids to be until parents could pick them up. But this is Seattle and we would need a study first to see if that would be good and then a vote… and by then someone is hurt. I will say I am from Seattle and love it very much but sometimes the PC culture and the vote for everything system we have makes me crazy. In no way shape or form is what happened the schools fault. But maybe just maybe if they are going to get involved there would be a solution offered other than advice to walk in groups when these kids were in a group. I was suggesting a formal offer of a safe place to stay until parents can get to the school in the short term. Thats all.

Nitro January 24, 2013 (2:32 pm)

While I am all for notifying the public with media coverage of the event for public safety, a teeny tiny part of me wishes that the media hadn’t reported this so widespread so that the cops could’ve set up a sting operation at Roxhill to catch these pieces of _ _ _ _. But I know that safety of the kids definitely comes first.

Anne January 24, 2013 (3:22 pm)

cclaure- get you –a letter isn’t a solution to the problem -I personally don’t think it was meant to be- as I said it was meant to inform- as some may not be aware of what happened. Going from there — sure there is an opportunity here for action- -these we’re middle schoolers that were robbed – so I am wondering how many are actually picked up after school? Do we know for sure that students can’t stay at school until a parent can pick them up “in the short term” as you suggest? Good questions that maybe a parent- or student at these schools can answer?

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