Essential to the culture of Holton-Arms is our commitment to transparency and sharing information with our community. To this end, we are sharing information related to a very unfortunate situation. On Thursday, July 9, 2015, a Montgomery County Police detective notified the School that an allegation of misconduct by a summer camp counselor was reported to the authorities. We followed the authorities’ instructions not to release information that could impede their investigation and actions. The School continues to cooperate with authorities.  

The safety and security of the children participating in our programs is of paramount importance.  In an abundance of caution and consistent with School policy, as soon as we received notification, the counselor was immediately removed from campus and instructed not to return.

On Friday, police arrested the alleged perpetrator, Jose Luis Casumbal Valenzuela, known as "Jolly" to the campers. Mr. Valenzuela is not an employee at the Holton-Arms School during the regular school year. He worked as a camp counselor during the summers of 2012-15 at Creative Summer where he taught Magic and Advanced Illusions.

Email communications were sent to the members of the Holton-Arms Community with information regarding details of the charges, resources for speaking to children, and our upcoming plans. If you are a member of the Holton-Arms Community and did not receive these emails, please contact Director of Communications Ellen Hatherill at ellen.hatherill@holton-arms.edu and she will send you the information.

During this difficult time, our thoughts continue to be with everyone involved in this serious matter. We take this and all allegations of this nature very seriously. Nothing is more important than the health, well-being and safety of every member of the Holton-Arms Community.

The School works to carefully vet and train the summer counselors prior to offering them employment. The School conducts comprehensive background checks including criminal checks of all of our summer counselors, both new and returning, each year before the start of camp. We conduct boundary training with our counselors according to Maryland Child Protective Services. We have multiple counselors assigned to each class. Finally, we will work with professionals to review our established safety policies, training and protocols.

I know that this is unsettling and you may have questions. To that end, I will continue to provide updates when they become available and in cooperation with the investigation by the authorities.

Sincerely,

Susanna A. Jones
Head of School