September 30, 2019

Dear Broadneck High Families:
I am writing to inform you that we have lost a member of our Broadneck Bruin family. Noah Anderson, a
freshman at our school, died at his home on Saturday night.
With the permission of Noah’s family, I am able to tell you that Noah took his own life.
While Noah was new to our school, he was doing well and seemed to be adjusting to the high school class
routine. He was a kind, polite, friendly young man and was well liked by his teachers and friends.
We have been in touch with Noah’s family to offer any resources we can provide. They have asked us to
share their firm belief that mental health is extremely important, and that parents and children should have regular
conversations about this topic.
Our school, school system, and county have a multitude of resources to help students and parents with
social and emotional issues. Please urge your child to seek his or her counselor or our school psychologist if those
resources are needed. Please also know that any adult in our building is accessible to your child if he or she needs
to have a confidential conversation. That adult can direct your child to the appropriate person to obtain resources.
Noah’s family also asked me to convey another message to all of you: Be kind to each other. That is
something that is very important to Noah’s family, and it should be important to all of us.
We will continue to support Noah’s family in every way we can, and I know you will continue to help us in
that effort.
Our school counselors and school psychologist, along with members of the county Mobile Crisis team and
additional personnel from across our school system, will be available at school tomorrow to speak with any
students or staff members who have a need to talk about their feelings.
If you or your child have a need to talk with someone in order to help cope with this situation before schools
reopen tomorrow morning, I encourage you to call the Anne Arundel County Crisis Warmline at 410-768-5522.
That service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Arrangements for Noah are incomplete at this time. When those arrangements are finalized, I will convey
them to you. If any of the services are public and your child wishes to attend, we strongly encourage you to
accompany him or her.
I encourage you to talk openly with your child about this sad event, and to help them understand that it’s
OK not to have answers to every question. Children learn how to deal with grief by watching adults deal with grief.
Please do not be afraid to express your emotions in front of your children. Healthy outlets of emotions can be a
valuable lesson for them. Additional resources to assist you and your child can be found at
www.aacps.org/crisisresources in the “Dealing with Grief” section near the bottom of the page.
Please don’t hesitate to contact the school on Monday if we can be of assistance.
Sincerely,

Jim Todd
Principal
JT/bm