May 26, 2022
On the heels of the Buffalo shooting targeting the Black community, the shooting at a Taiwanese church congregation in Southern California, and most recently the senseless deaths of 19 children and 2 teachers in the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school, we are continually forced to face senseless acts of violence.
The students, families, and staff of Next Generation Scholars offer our sincerest prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of these marginalized communities, many of which reflect the communities we currently and have historically served. We are truly living in tumultuous times; we are still navigating COVID-19 and daily updates on the Ukrainian war. Let us hope that our elected officials will be moved to work together for a more just and sound world.
While we hope and pray, we will also continue to teach and to empower. While thousands of miles away, our NGS community closely reflects the community of Uvalde, with our students and families being predominantly Latino and under-resourced.
At the Scholar House and for our community, we continue to do what is within our control. We will continue to provide access to social services. Our students and families are asking hard questions that we don’t have all the answers to; and, we provide them the space and professional support to share their hurt and to ask their questions.
As adults and educational leaders, we will continue to model healthy behavior to our students – to ask for help, to advocate for what we need, to assert boundaries, and to express our feelings openly, professionally, and appropriately.
The Scholar House on E Street continues to be open and available for our students, during class, by walk-in, and by appointment. As we approach the end of this school year, we will adjust our operating hours to meet the needs of our students; we will be available 11-7pm, Monday to Friday starting this Monday, May 30th and our summer programming schedule starts June 21 to July 22 and will move to 9am-4pm, Monday-Friday.
The NGS team continually implements updated facilities training and active emergency protocols to ensure the continued safety of our students and of our staff. Together, we will confront educational injustice, and continually strive for more equity, justice, and peace.
Jeff Escabar
Executive Director