MASONTOWN, Pa. – A Pennsylvania elementary school principal is trying to put her students’ minds at ease after recent creepy clown sightings made them nervous about going out for recess.

“Over the last several days, students have been coming to school talking about people dressed as clowns. I have spoken to chief Ryan of the Masontown Police Department and he has confirmed that we have had sightings of people dressing up as clowns in Masontown and the surrounding areas,” Masontown Elementary School Principal Lisa Haught wrote in a letter sent home to parents Wednesday.

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“In response to this development, Chief Ryan and his officers are working to help our students feel safer. They are increasing their presence in our community by driving by the school, visiting the school during the school day and even attending our upcoming after school event,” she continued.

“We also have AG police coming in the mornings and afternoons periodically to help with traffic concerns and this situation. At the building level, the faculty, staff and custodians are aware of their surroundings, especially during recess, and are reassuring students as well.”

Haught also said she encouraged students to stay away from the school’s perimeter fence while on recess and to alert school staff if they see creepy clowns, PennLive reports.

The local creepy clown sightings are among a wave of similar reports in numerous states, primarily in the eastern United States, involving creepy clowns lurking in the woods. In some instances, the clowns have attacked young children or attempted to lure them into the woods, while other situations played out as threats online, EAGnews reports.

In Masontown, a resident of Virginia Avenue reported a creepy clown in their back yard on Monday, and parents and students waiting at a school bus stop also came across a clown on Tuesday morning. A third sighting occurred Tuesday evening in Masontown German Park, KDKA reports.

“Hopefully this is just copycat behavior and nothing scary that’s going to come of it,” Haught told the news site.

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The principal said local police were eager to put students’ minds at ease.

“I asked (the police chief) if he’d mind coming to school to help our students feel a little bit safer. They had some anxiety about coming out for recess,” she said. “He was definitely on board in a heartbeat.”

Local parents seemed skeptical that the creepy clowns pose any real risk to their children.

“I think it’s just another Facebook scam. Kids are looking for attention,” parent Jeff Crable told the news site. “I don’t really think anything bad will come of it. I hope not.”

Kenny Raho Jr. believes “this clown thing is a joke.”

Regardless, students in other states have had physical contact with creepy clowns, including a Tennessee student who told police one jumped out of the woods on Monday, slashed his arm with something sharp, and then dashed off into the darkness, WTVF reports.

“An individual dressed in a red hoodie and a clown mask came running at him,” Coffee County Sheriff Steve Graves told the news site. “It’s people who have probably seen this on social media and thinks it’s funny.”

Closer to Masontown, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, children playing at the Greenwood Hill Playground reported that a clowns were “eating something in the woods” when they stumbled across them, WNEP reports.

“A clown started chasing us up there and turned around and went back to the woods. So we thought it was gone, turned around, broke a stick and threw it at us and started calling us, cursing at us, it was scary,” 12-year-old Breanna Hawke told the news site. “Yes, a clown did this.”