School holds vigil in wake of shootings

WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) – Students and faculty at Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick prayed for the victims and their families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

“Every family that has students, school aged children is going to be the first thing on their minds today,” said Dave Flanagan, Assistant Principal at Hendricken.

Flanagan is also the father of four children, including a sophomore at Hendricken.

“It’s a perspective I have to maintain for both.  That you know, I’m responsible for the safety of students here in my building but certainly worried about the safety of my own children in another school, “ Flanagan said.

As schools around the U.S. return to class, safety is of the upmost concern.

“We prepare for the worst and we pray for the best,” said Hendricken President, John Jackson.

Hendricken has all the precautions in place to help prevent a school shooting.

They have cameras at the entrances, buzzers on the doors, and state mandated drills.

“Unfortunately, in the world today, anything can happen.  When it hits a school community, it really hits home to us,” Jackson said.

Jackson says there is always room for improvement and plans to continue to look for ways to make the school safer down the road.