Despite dealing with the tragic loss of Principal O’Neil Stevens, the Kingston-based Jessie Ripoll Primary School community is hopeful that in time, it will heal.

The principal and his wife Camesha Lindsay-Stevens were killed in a motor vehicle crash in the United States on Friday.

The Education Ministry, which activated its trauma and grief counselling teams yesterday, was at the school this morning to help students cope with the tragedy.

It was the students’ first day back in the classrooms for the new Easter term, which officially started yesterday.

Speaking with IRIE FM News, School Board Chair Marcia Thwaites said the Jessie Ripoll community trusts that the emotional trauma will fade as time progresses.