August 28, 2025
Dear Shrewsbury Families, Colleagues, & Community Members,
I regret to inform you of the tragic news of the death of a parent of one of our students at Coolidge School that occurred this morning.
Tiffany Ostrander, Principal of Coolidge, shared the following with Coolidge families:
I am deeply sorry to inform you that the incident that occurred earlier today on the paths by Jordan Pond was a shooting that resulted in the death of a Coolidge parent who had just dropped his son off at school. We are heartbroken for our student and the family, and we will do everything we can to support them. We are not able to share their identity at this time, and we ask that you respect their confidentiality. I know you will want to help support as well; we will reach out when we are able to provide information about how.
First, I want to thank the Shrewsbury Police Department for their excellent work in maintaining the safety of the Coolidge campus during the incident, as well as the Shrewsbury Fire Department and Town Manager’s Office for their support throughout the day.
I sincerely wish that our staff had not needed to implement our safety and security protocols, but I am very proud of how they handled an extremely challenging situation. The response of our staff at Coolidge School was outstanding, as was that of the staff at Beal School (where Coolidge students who had yet to exit their bus were rerouted). Staff followed our protocols and ensured that first and foremost students were safe. They then cared for students by creating as normal an environment as possible within the school building once the police shifted our stance from lockdown to shelter-in-place. Finally, they coordinated communications with families and the safe dismissal of students once the shelter order was lifted. Our Coolidge parent community was very cooperative in following our protocol for picking up their students –– thank you. Our staff at Central Office and our bus company, AA Transportation, also did excellent work to navigate the situation as it unfolded.
This was a terrible day, where a senseless act of violence took the life of a member of our community. On behalf of our school district, I extend deepest condolences to his family, and ask that you keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Respectfully,
Joe Sawyer
Superintendent of Schools