OXFORD, Mich. – Oxford High School students are getting ready to gradually return to school 41 days after the mass shooting that left 4 students dead and 7 people injured.
The students will be returning to the classrooms for the first time since the shooting. They will not be returning to the high school this week but instead will be starting a process that will be closely-monitored.
The Oxford community is not in a vacuum, even people from neighboring communities know someone who went to Oxford High School.
Read: Civil lawsuit against Oxford school district, staff amended to include new counts
Parents of high school students have told Local 4 off camera that many of the high school students are feeling anxious and showing signs of trauma.
On Monday, Oxford Middle School students returned to school and will be on a hybrid schedule. For the next two weeks, middle school students will attend in-person classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They will be learning remotely on Tuesday and Thursday.
On Tuesday (Jan. 11), high school students will attend class at the middle school but only for half days. That will happen Tuesday and Thursday for the next two weeks.
The district said they want the next two weeks to be all about the students and give them time to reacquaint with each other. School officials said they want to ease students back into academics while assessing ongoing trauma and offering mental health support.
There will be no remote learning between those days, but high school students will have an option for additional assignments that are aligned with their curriculum.
To get students ready to return to the high school building, the district will be holding three open houses on Jan. 20, Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 to give parents and students a chance to walk the school facility themselves. Trauma specialists will be on site.