The Hopkins School District says it is proud of its richly-diverse kindergarten through 12th grade population. According to its website, students of color make up 41% of the 7,369 students, and the district represents more than 46 different language groups as of 2013-2014.

However, diversification does not come without its challenges. A fight that occurred  on Feb. 12 at HHS – and the social media reaction that followed – is an example of one of these challenges. Following the incident, Twitter blew up with comments and accusations that contained serious racial overtones.

“We don’t control what students put on Twitter – we can’t control it,” said Ms. Patty Johnson, principal. “We keep talking with students over and over and over again about their digital footprint and that it is not appropriate or condoned to be putting threatening messages out there.”

In situations like these, the administration feels obligated to get involved. Mr. Trenton Lawson, assistant principal, takes the lead in settling conflicts that are brought to the administration’s attention.

“It is important that we hear student concerns when tweets negatively affect the learning environment.  We want to be proactive,” said Lawson. “We want to have a conversation with students regarding negative tweets – we want to teach students about Digital Citizenship.”

The administration serves as a mediation tool, as well.

“Sometimes you just need someone objective on the outside to support and advocate for both parties and help them navigate to find a solution,”Johnson said. “That’s hard to do with your friends because you’re usually very much on one side or the other, but we’re here for everyone, and we are very open to that.”

With that incident and in general, the primary concern of Johnson, Lawson, and the rest of the administration’s team is safety.

“That’s my number one job – to make sure [the students] and the staff are safe,” said Johnson. “If you don’t feel safe, you can’t learn. You have to feel safe.”

Johnson has worked in four different school districts and has witnessed racial tensions within all of them. However, she does not like limiting the conversation to only race.

“We have such a rich diversity, from all experiences, which is why I have a hard time only talking about race,” said Johnson. “Our diversity comes from our diversity of race, socio-economics, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender.”

Although the fight the other day conveyed strong tensions, Johnson truly believes that Hopkins is still a great place to be.

“I think all communities go through learning moments, growing moments,” said Johnson. “I feel very strongly about Hopkins High School being a culture of respect for all experiences.”