SALEM (AP) - The state Department of Human Services will conduct an internal review of its dealings with Amanda Stott-Smith to determine if it missed warning signs about the woman accused of sending her children off a Portland bridge.

State child welfare officials declined to discuss their past involvement with the family, citing confidentiality rules. The department, however, had at least one report within the past year of suspected child abuse involving the mother, an agency official told The Oregonian.

"What I can tell you is we did not have an open case with the family prior to the incident itself," Erinn Kelley-Siel, head of the state Children, Adults and Families Division, said Wednesday.

Stott-Smith, 31, remains in a Multnomah County jail on charges of murder and attempted murder. Stott-Smith's 4-year-old son drowned in the Willamette River, but her 7-year-old daughter miraculously survived.

The review team met for the first time Wednesday. The goal, Kelley-Siel said, is to "learn what we now wish we had known. Or, is there something about our practice that we need to change?"

Also Wednesday, the principal of Meadowlark Elementary School told The Register-Guard newspaper that he expects the little girl to return to the Eugene school when she's ready. She "was enrolled up to when the tragedy occurred and she's planning on coming back, as far as we know," Principal B.J. Blake said.

The first-grader has made a speedy recovery despite falling 75 feet from the bridge early Saturday and spending more than a half-hour in the cold, dark river.

"She's a hero in our eyes," Blake said. "It's phenomenal that she had the wherewithal to stay afloat and hold on to her brother while she continued screaming for help. She has that kind of spirit - she's a young woman with a lot of strength."

Meadowlark students spent part of Wednesday drawing pictures and writing notes that will be sent to their classmate, described by Blake as sweet, happy and energetic.

Court records show Stott-Smith and her husband, Jason Smith, fought for custody of their children after he left their Tualatin home last year and moved to Eugene. With the couple's divorce case pending, a judge in April granted Jason Smith custody of the children.

"We're mourning and grieving the loss of my boy and doing everything we can to focus on my daughter and her recovery," Jason Smith in a brief telephone interview with The Register-Guard.

"As we work through this as a family, I might have more to say in the future," he added. "But at this point, that's all I want to say."