A 16-year-old female student was arrested after a brutal assault on the principal at the Henderson K-12 Inclusion School in Dorchester and an administrative staff member during dismissal on Wednesday, officials said.
Principal Patricia Lampron was hospitalized and school was canceled for Thursday at the school’s upper campus on Croftland Avenue, Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said in a telephone message to Henderson families.
Students, parents, and staff members witnessed the attack on Lampron, Cassellius said. Information on the staff member’s injuries or condition was not available Wednesday night.
“This violent behavior will not be tolerated,” Cassellius said, according to a transcript of the message. “The health, safety, and well-being of our students and staff is our top priority at Boston Public Schools. I am personally involved and am ensuring we are taking immediate and swift action.”
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Boston police and the School Safety Services Department responded quickly to the attack and are investigating, she said.
Sergeant Detective John Boyle, a Boston police spokesman, said Lampron was the “victim of a serious, violent attack” by a 16-year-old female student who knocked the principal unconscious.
A Boston police officer assigned to the school was alerted to the attack about 2:30 p.m. and arrived at the scene to find Lampron on the ground and school staff tending to her, Boyle said.
The teenager who attacked Lampron was arrested at the scene and faces three charges of juvenile delinquency: one count of assault and battery on a person over age 60 causing serious injury, and two counts of assault and battery on a public employee, according to Boyle.
The teen, who was not identified because of her age, will be arraigned on the charges in Boston Juvenile Court, Boyle said.
Cassellius said school department officials are in touch with Lampron’s family and are working “to ensure the safety of everyone at the Henderson.”
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“This incident is disturbing and completely unacceptable,” she said. “We want to be clear: Violence of any kind is not tolerated and will not be tolerated in the Boston Public Schools.”
Classes at the Henderson’s upper campus, which serves grades 2 through 12, were canceled for Thursday so that staff can make plans to address the attack, though kindergarten and first-grade students will still meet at the lower campus located on Dorchester Avenue, Cassellius said.
“We do not take this decision lightly and we know this will be a challenge for some of our students and families and we thank you in advance for your grace, cooperation, and patience as we plan for a safe return to school,” she said.
When students return to the upper campus Friday, there will be counselors available to support them and the school’s staff “for as long as needed to restore the stability of the learning environment,” Cassellius said.
Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him @jeremycfox.