Real intelligent Wile E. Yet another user of Patch that cannot use their real name because they make the most ridiculous comments here. I have a daughter and a nephew that attends Gaudet. I, like other parents who received word of the lock-down are worried sick about our and other kids safety and well-being right now. Please keep your idiotic comments to yourself.

thank you Doug...

Wile- Maybe you arent a parent, as I am, who has sat at home worried sick about my daughter & all those kids, fearing the worst, for the past 2.5 hours. Grow up.
The good news is the kids are being dismissed & thank God, everyone is safe.

Right there with you Rebecca, my thoughts exactly. Thank god everyone is safe.!!Very unnerving 2.5 hours. Kudos to Gaudet administration and staff for doing the right thing to keep our kids safe. Cant wait to hug my daughter when she gets home.

This page may be helpful for debriefing with kids...

http://www.aboutourkids.org/files/_Children_Immediately_After_Traumatic_Events_0.pdf

I am a grandparent to two students and I am so thank-ful the students were sent home safely,I agree and send great thanks to the Gaudet administration and staff for doing what they felt was nessasary to keep the situation under control and keeping my grandkids and there peers safe

Im choosing to ignore the ignorant poster here.
I do want to make a point that some parents, at the time, were rightfully really upset about not knowing what was going on. I had numerous calls from friends outside in the parking lot (since my daughter is bussed home, I chose to stay at home, fearing I would miss her at the school at dismissal & she would come home to an empty house & be more upset than she already likely was by the incident), who were pretty upset that no one was coming out to give them any info. After I thought about it, I thought "Their priority was to make sure our kids were safe, inside, 1st". & thats what they did. Im sorry for the stress of all the parents - believe me, I was one of them. But I want to thank the the school principals, teachers, & admin for doing what needed to be done.

It brings tears to my eyes thinking of those kids under the desks, or my 11 yr old explaining how they had to line up with their backs against the walls ... poor kids. Real or not, hoax or not ... with the history of tradgedies like this, IF this was an over reaction & a hoax, Id much rather have it dealt with this way, than them not taking it seriously.

Thanks, Rebecca for your comments. And for all the parents out there, Jessica Walsh from the Women's Resource Center posted this information earlier that parents might find helpful in speaking with their children after the fact. As you mentioned, hoax or no hoax, this event certainly proved stressful to kids as well as parents.
http://www.aboutourkids.org/files/_Children_Immediately_After_Traumatic_Events_0.pdf
(Thanks, Jess!) - Angela

Did anyone else not receive the connect-ed calls or emails? I did not get them and I am on the list and have received them in the past. I know of 2 other people who didn't get a call or an email also.

Rebecca, Thank you for your comments. I too chose to be at home waiting for my child. I did however have to drive by the school and was dismayed to see the chaos outside the school. The buses were further delayed by the crowds in the parking lots. My sone spoke of the confusion of buses having to go to both front and back lots, and also how disturbing it was for him, a 12 year old, to watch parents standing around hte bus lines taking their kids out. The email from the school CLEARLY stated that parents were not to come to the school. I put my faith in the school administration and teachers to keep my child safe. IF this had indeed been a real situation, emergency vehicles (namely ambulances) would have had a difficult time getting to the scene. I believe the Administration in the schools handled the wonderfully, I commend the teachers in the classroom for helping to keep the kids calm. If this happens again, I hope the parents can follow the guidelines and not create further havoc by mobbing the school. again, Kudos to all involved with the school system on handling this situation.

I am a parent of two at Gaudet and i never received the calls or emails.

I chose to go to the school. My kids are pick/walkers so I went to "the wall" where I normally pick them up. I couldn't sit home and wait to hear. It's not my nature. I must admit, though, because I the cryptic email, when I arrived, I was peeking behind the bushes not knowing if a gunmen was out there. It sounds so silly to say it now, but you just never know. Which brings me to posting with our real names. I will not use mine. I teach my kids all about online safety, not using their names and giving out too much info, because you never know who is reading. There already appears to be a whack-o posting here. How many are reading?

I suggest to you all to go into your profile and change your names. It just takes a quick google or vision appraisal search to find your address.

As for the Gaudet issue, my boys have stated over and over that they don't want to go in tomorrow because they don't feel safe. While the administration did a fabulous job of keeping everyone safe, I hope they will review this for some lessons learned. I think their are plenty to lessons to learn from this.

Thank you to all that kept my daughters, friends and neighbors safe. I did get the phone calls and email both at home and in the office. I stayed at home waiting knowing the Police would have everything under control and I would not be permitted near the school. I thank the person that brought this to an adults attention. I much rather be in the position I am this morning than mourning the death of a middle schooler.

I will start be saying Thank you to everyone who kept my daughter safe yesterday and I know that what was done was necessary to ensure her safety. But I do have issues with the notifications. After my daughter did not get home from school on time, I checked my e-mail (which I'm not suppose to do at work). The e-mail that was initially sent out was very vague and did nothing but freak me out. I immediately left work and spent my 45 minute commute hoping everything was alright and wishing for more information. I received the first phone call 2 hours after the start of the situation, that stated the children were being dismissed. This is unacceptable. I believe the school needs to evaluate their notification procedures. I hope there will be a school meeting in the near future to help determine what can be done to avoid this confusion.

http://middletown.patch.com/announcements/communication-plan-with-your-school

Hi Everybody, Please refer to the above link regarding updating your child's contact information with our schools.

I heard back from the administration office. They said they had my correct email address in the system, they do not know why I didn't receive the emails. They did not, for some unknown reason, have my phone number listed as the primary number.

hi, i was one of the kids in the lock down and i was really scared, i didnt know what was going on but my teacher calmed us down by giving us jolly ranchers :) there have been rumors that they found bullet shells in the girls bathroom but im really not sure!

thanks, i knew something was going wrong when mr manceiri announced we were having a lock down and we all had to keep silent. Then all my friends and i turned the lights off and shut the doors. We had to sit on the ground, some under tables, some against the wall. The secretary for the principal came in and told us to give our cell phones to my teacher and then we waited for about 3o min and 2 policemen came in and looked through our stuff and patted us down (sorta) then we could do our homework. When i got outside i had to go through a maze of parents (just to see if a parent or family member was there) my mom wasnt there so i got on the bus with no back pack or coat and went home.

Hello to everyone here,
I am a former Gaudet Middle School student, and spent my four years of middle school here, at this school. When I heard there was a gun threat, I didn't want to believe that such could happen to this school. To be honest, I don't ever think there was a gun. I do not intend to offend anyone, but the police had like 20 popo units in the school, and you're telling me that there is yet not gun to be found?! It blows my mind. I think what really happened was that the girl (who shall remain nameless) who reported the gun was doing it as a prank, was a victim of a prank or she over exaggerated her story. I don't believe anyone would ever bring in a gun to this school.

that was the most scariest thing ever