Students will return to Apalachee High School next week after year’s deadliest school shooting
A man lays flowers at a makeshift memorial at Apalachee High School in Winder
(CNN) — A phased reopening of Apalachee High School, the scene of this year’s deadliest school shooting, is scheduled to begin September 24.
“We understand that returning to campus might be overwhelming for some and we are here to support you,” reads a letter sent Monday to the “AHS Family” from Principal Jessica Rehberg and Barrow County School System Superintendent Dallas LeDuff.
Resources including more counselors, therapy dogs and more law enforcement will be on campus – all options recommended by other principals who’ve overseen similar resumptions as school shootings have become a staple of American life.
The area where the Apalachee High shooting unfolded, J Hall, will be closed for the rest of the school year after two students and two teachers were killed in the September 4 attack.
Students also will ease back with half days – 8:15 a.m. to 12:40 p.m., with shortened classes – for nearly two weeks, the letter said. Then after fall break, the school on October 14 is expected to return to a full-time schedule.
Barrow County Sheriff’s Office will have extra deputies to help with the transition, Sheriff Jud Smith said.
A 14-year-old student is charged in the shooting, along with his father; both are in custody.
Getting students back into classrooms after a campus gun attack is complex, can be lengthy and should not be rushed, principals who have led schools during and after other deadly shootings have told CNN.
“Everyone is processing or will process a tragedy differently,” said Michelle Kefford, principal at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. “And everyone – even though they experience the same tragedy – their intimate or personal experience is very unique.”
Indeed, as gun violence has erupted in US schools from coast to coast, principals have found peer support in the Principal Recovery Network, which 2022 published a collection of best practices for navigating the aftermath of a tragedy. Among its advice: ensure all physical damage is repaired and let staff members “feel comfortable in their building” before students return.
“Thank you for your patience, understanding, and trust,” the Apalachee High administrators ended their letter. “We are all in this together, and we will continue to support one another.”
CNN’s Nicole Chavez and Michelle Watson contributed to this report.
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