parkland school shooting
Students return to Stoneman Douglas High for first time since mass shooting
Thousands of students and their parents returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Sunday, the first time they were allowed back on campus since the Feb. 14 mass shooting there that killed 17 people.
Grief counselors and therapy dogs were on hand to support the students, and many of the teens and their parents wore maroon ribbons and shirts that read #MSDStrong in solidarity. They picked up backpacks and books that they left behind in the chaos, and spoke with their teachers, who returned to campus on Friday. School will start again for students on Wednesday with a modified schedule, and classes will not be held in the building where the shooting took place.
It was hard for freshman Francesca Lozano to be back on campus, she told the Sun-Sentinel. "Just seeing the building was scary," she said, but being with her friends "made it a lot better." There will be armed police officers at the school on Wednesday, and that's "relieving, and I think I'll feel more safe," freshman Nerlyn Abraham said. "But at the same time, it's going to be scary with the guns around."