Evergreen High School staff and students will start a gradual return to work and classes beginning Monday, more than a week after a shooting at the school.
Staff members will return to school Monday to prepare for the weeks ahead, Principal Skyler Artes said in a statement Friday.
Information sessions will be offered to parents Monday and Tuesday at Bergen Park Church. They will be led by partners from the National Mass Violence Center who will hold two identical information sessions titled “Understanding Mass Violence Impact on Children – How Parents & Caregivers Can Help.”
An open house and a walk-through of the school for parents and students is planned from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Students will gradually return to school Thursday and Friday 8:30-11 a.m. Students will be able to choose from activity options that they feel most comfortable with. Lunch and buses will be provided.
Artes said more details will be shared Sunday.
The high school has been closed since Sept. 10 when a student opened fire in and outside the building, injuring two students. Jefferson County sheriff’s officials said 16-year-old Desmond Holly then shot himself. Holly died later at the hospital.
The two injured students remain in the hospital. Matthew Stone, 18, remains in critical condition. A witness told The Denver Post that he saw two boys — later identified as the shooter and Silverstone — fighting and grappling near the intersection of Buffalo Park Road and South Olive Road before the shooter threw Silverstone to the ground and shot him.
A second student, whose name hasn’t been released, is in serious condition at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, spokeswoman Rachel Fowler said Saturday.
Artes said families and students will have a chance to walk around the school Wednesday at their own pace and direction. There will also be an optional family healing activity and spaces in the building will be staffed with mental health professionals.
The school’s facilities team has repaired and restored the building, the principal said. “For the most part, our school looks just as it did at the start of the year,” Artes said.
Here is next week’s schedule:
- Monday: Staff will return to the building
- Monday: Parent information session, Bergen Park Church, 1-3:30 p.m.
- Tuesday: Parent information session, 5-7:30 p.m.
- Wednesday: 5-8 p.m., open house walk-through for parents and students
- Thursday and Friday: 8:30-11 a.m., two-day student gradual, supportive return to school
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