It’s been a rough first full week back to school for students at Middletown High School after two back-to-back incidents postponed their pep rally and caused extra police to be at the school. 

Middletown school administration hoped for a better start. 

On Wednesday, the district said a “disappointing and dangerous“ fight at dismissal involved several teens. 

The next day, an AirDrop message was circulated between students at lunch, saying someone was going to shoot up Friday’s pep rally with an assault rifle. 

District Superintendent Amy Creeden says both incidents are under investigation by police and the pep rally is being rescheduled for another day.

The district, like others nationwide, has seen a dangerous rise in violence since last year. 

Creeden spoke with News 12 in August about several steps the district is taking to combat the trend, and announced as of Friday a staggered dismissal to prevent large crowds of students. 

News 12 spoke to several parents who kept their students home Friday and others who say they’re concerned about the ongoing behavior. 

“It’s crazy,” said one parent. “It just makes me worry about the future..”

“It’s been crazy. I’m not gonna lie to you. I pray every day that my sister is doing all right at school and that nothing goes wrong,” said Jerell Cargiall. 

Middletown police released a statement on Facebook saying there would be additional police presence at the school Friday and the district says help is being made available to students impacted by the incidents. 

The Middletown school district released a statement saying any students that missed school Friday, following the shooting threat, would not be marked absent.