Sad News

August 19, 2017

Dear CCHS Parents/Guardians,

It is with deep sadness that I inform you that Dylan Smyth, a rising sophomore, died in a tragic accident last night. He was killed in a collision with a commuter train while crossing the tracks on his bicycle.  We express our deepest condolences to Dylan’s family and are maintaining ongoing communication and support to them.  

Last week we assembled our Incident Management Team to deal with the loss of a middle school student. It is with a heavy heart that our school reconvenes the Incident Management Team this afternoon following another tragic loss. The Incident Management Team is led by Dr. Laurie Hunter, Superintendent of Schools, Kristen Herbert, Director of Teaching and Learning along with CCHS Administration and guidance staff.  The Incident Management Team works to help with the needs of students, parents, and school personnel at difficult times such as this. We are working closely with the Riverside Trauma Center, and the appropriate Town officials.

This loss is sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school, especially students and staff who were close to Dylan.  I encourage you to openly discuss with your child their reactions and feelings regarding the death of Dylan. We have enclosed some information that may be useful to you in helping your child deal with this tragedy. Those attached resources include:

• Talking with Your Children About Traumatic Events, from Riverside
• Developmental Stages of a Child’s Understanding of Death, taken from Talking with Children About Loss by Maria Trozzi

In addition to these resources, we would like to make Concord Carlisle High School, our guidance department members, and the Riverside Trauma staff available to all students, staff, and parents/guardians, across the district, on Sunday, August 20th from 3p.m.- 5 p.m. The Riverside Trauma Response Center is a community network available to help schools and communities respond to traumatic events. I have included a list of resources if your family requires immediate support.

• Children and Trauma
• Practicing Self-Care After Trauma

Finally, I want to express my deepest sympathy for Dylan’s family and the entire Concord Carlisle community as we deal with this loss.  We will update you once we have additional information.  

Warmly,

Michael J. Mastrullo

Principal