I work in a library at a school. Recently one of the 5th grade students has started emailing me several times a day. At first I would email back when I would receive them, even if it was past school hours, because it would be questions about certain books or things happening in the library.

Then I decided I would only reply to her emails during school hours so that maybe she would realize that emailing me at 9:00 on a Saturday night would not get an immediate response (I had not previously replied to emails sent that late, just at 5 or 6 in the evening). Sometimes I wake up to 3-4 emails from her. She has now starting asking me about things that aren’t relevant to me or my position, such as events happening in her classroom or with her homeroom teacher. Or she will just send “I hope you are having a good evening” or “Goodnight, have a good day tomorrow.” While the sentiment is sweet, I’m not quite sure what to do about it. I have not replied to her emails that are just greetings, so I’m not sure if I should just continue to ignore them or speak with her directly or let a principal know. I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but I also feel kind of weird that she emails to tell me goodnight.

Edited to add: I don’t think she is neglected at home. She is my co-worker’s neighbor, and she always sees the family together doing things, and the girl’s parents are often at school events or bringing her lunch and attending her extracurricular activities.