It’s been a tough week at Napa High School. Students, teachers and faculty have been dealing with the aftermath of sad news related to two teachers.

Dance instructor Kris Van Treese, who for months has been battling a rare brain disorder, has not been making good progress, according to school officials. Last weekend, Van Treese’s family members made the difficult decision to remove Van Treese from life support.

As of Wednesday afternoon, she was resting in a Marin health care facility. She has viral encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain.

Separately, the school learned that math instructor Gwennyth Trice was diagnosed with a brain tumor and will undergo surgery.

The news about Van Treese spread through campus by word-of-mouth and rumor, and administrators quickly shared information with the school community and gave students the chance to ask questions and visit with adults who could counsel them.

“There were a lot of rumors and people had bits and pieces of information” about Van Treese, said Napa High Principal Barbara Franco. “We decided it was important for us to bring our faculty together Monday morning to share with them what was happening.”

The faculty and staffers from around the school district then set up an area to offer counseling to students. They chose the building on campus where 350 students took jazz dance classes from Van Treese and others. On Monday, there were six or more adults ready to address any questions.

Luis Munguia, freshman counselor at the school, said Van Treese’s fate is affecting students at all grade levels because she was so well-known and liked.

“The kids are heart-broken and emotional ... they’ve all heard great things about her and they all were very touched,” Munguia said.

Franco said many students took the opportunity and the effect was positive around campus. “Our school is an amazing place,” she said.

Franco said faculty and administrators emphasized to students that Van Treese “had not passed away. She is in the hands of loving family.”

The school also sent a letter home with students for their families.

“We wanted parents to be aware so we would know what we were doing at school to support their children,” said Franco.

While Van Treese’s situation has been public for some time, with supporters creating a Web site — www.friendsofkris.info — in her honor, the news about Trice was a shock.

Franco declined to offer remarks about the situation with Trice, saying that she has been in more contact with Van Treese’s family. Franco did say her students had been informed of Trice’s struggle, that she is in the thoughts of her colleagues and that the school “wishes her and her family all the best.”