Thursday was not like any other morning at Silver Rail Elementary.
Students walked through the doors of the school in southeast Bend for the first time since a 16-year-old gunman killed three students and a teacher in a classroom on Oct. 15. But officials and educators with Bend-La Pine Schools said one of the goals of the day was to help students regain routines and help their healing after about four weeks away from school.
“We want school to feel as typical as possible,” said Karen Rush, executive director of elementary schools with the district. “We know that those predictable structures and routines are what help support students as they transition back to school.”
Some parents shed tears or lingered outside the school after escorting their children through the parking lot to the front doors just before 8 a.m. Thursday morning.
As the return day approached, families came together for free nights at a trampoline park and flower-making events and visits to a theraputic horse ranch in Tumalo.
The afternoon before the return, community members and families from across Bend filled the sidewalk to the entrance with messages of love in colored chalk. They hung dozens of red and purple stuffed hearts on the chain link fence near the playground. Purple ribbons and yard signs — in Silver Rail school colors — dotted the surrounding neighborhood.
The inside of the school is mostly the same, with a few changes. There is now a long display case near the entrance filled with children’s books and corresponding stuffed animals: Frog and Toad, Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Love Monster, Pete the Cat.
A new wall completely shields the classroom where the shooting occurred, at the end of a hallway on the south side of the building. A local artist painted a colorful mural of the Cascade Mountains over the wall. Window film blocks views into the classroom where the shooting occurred, and the district replaced exterior doors where the assailant shot through the glass to gain access.
An insurance policy helped cover costs of the repairs, while a local contractor donated labor and equipment, said Bend-La Pine Schools Chief Operations Officer Paul Dean.
Families of Silver Rail students were invited to walk through the school prior to the first day back.
“We had a tremendous showing,” Dean said. “The students were kids. They were running around, playing tag. They were wanting to go visit their classrooms, they wanted to see their teacher, they wanted to give a hug to the custodian and anyone else that they recognized.”
“If anything, I think it was the students holding up the parents,” Dean said.
Most, but not all Silver Rail students returned to school Nov. 12. Rush said the “vast majority” of staff returned to the school and “very few” families chose not to come back, while some might not be ready to return just yet.
“We respect and honor everybody’s decision about whether or not they return to Silver Rail,” Rush told the Source Thursday morning. Rush continued, “We are prepared and ready to support them in moving forward with their family and their unique needs.”
For the first day back, mental health professionals helped the district develop a script for teachers to read to students to start the day — an age-appropriate conversation about the incident and the time away from school, Rush said. In the week leading up to the return, Rush said, teachers worked with experts from the National Mass Violence Center on how to recognize when Silver Rail students might need extra help. The school created new spaces where students can go if they need support, Rush said.
Students who survive school shootings are more likely to need antidepressants in the years following the violence, according to research from Stanford University. They’re also less likely to graduate high school, go to college and get well-paying jobs.
Deschutes County Health Services Director Holly Harris said the County put extra therapists in the school during drop-off and pick-up times on Thursday. She said the health department, which has been hosting regular support sessions for the community, has transitioned from providing direct trauma management to more traditional therapy. The County also set up a dedicated phone line for Silver Rail families to access trauma treatment.
The County, the district and others partnered to set up a resiliency hub at the Larkspur Community Center, which will offer drop-in mental health support and basic needs.
Hundreds of people sought crisis support in the days following the shooting, and about 200 people have requested follow-up support, Harris said.
“We’ll continue to do that as long as needed,” Harris said. “We’re here for the duration. In some ways, the work is just beginning.”
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