Columbine High School

Columbine High School
Address
6201 South Pierce Street [1] [2] Columbine , Colorado 80123 United States
Coordinates	39°36′14″N105°04′27″W / 39.60389°N 105.07417°W / 39.60389; -105.07417
Information
Other name	CHS
Type	Public high school
Established	1973 (1973)
School district	Jefferson County R-1
NCES School ID	080480000707 [3]
Principal	Scott Christy
Teaching staff	86.66 (on an FTE basis) [3]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1,686 (2022–2023 [3] )
Student to teacher ratio	19.46 [3]
Campus type	Suburban
Color(s)	Navy blue and silver
Mascot	Rebel
Nickname	Rebels
Website	columbinehs.jeffcopublicschools.org
The library built after the massacre.

Columbine High School in 2006

Columbine High School (CHS) is a public high school in Columbine, Colorado, United States, in the Denver metropolitan area. It is part of the Jefferson County Public Schools district. ^{[1] [2]}

In 1999, it became the scene of an infamous mass shooting, where 12 students and one teacher were murdered by senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold before the pair committed suicide.

History

Columbine High School opened in 1973 with a capacity for 1,652 students. ^[4] It was named after the surrounding community of Columbine, which in turn was named after the state flower of Colorado: the columbine. The school's first principal was Gerald Difford. There was no senior class during the school's first year; its first graduating class was in 1975. The school colors were selected through a vote by students at Ken Caryl Junior High School and Bear Creek High School, who were the first to attend Columbine High School when it opened in 1973.

The school has undergone significant renovations since it first opened: in 1995, with the addition of a new cafeteria and library; in 1999–2000, with interior renovations to the corridors, cafeteria, and former library; and in the early 2000s, with the addition of the new HOPE Columbine Memorial Library and a memorial on the site. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Massacre

Main article: Columbine High School massacre

Columbine High School was the site of one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern United States history. ^[8] The shootings occurred on April 20, 1999, when senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire and killed 12 students and a teacher, and wounded 24 others, 21 of them by gunfire, before they both committed suicide in the library. The massacre made headlines both nationally and internationally, making Columbine a household name, and causing a moral panic in U.S. high schools. ^[9] It was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history until it was surpassed by the Parkland high school shooting on February 14, 2018, in which 17 people were killed. ^{[10] [11]}

After the shooting, classes at Columbine were held at nearby Chatfield Senior High for the remaining three weeks of that school year. ^[12]

The school went through a major renovation in 1995, just four years before the massacre, adding a new library and cafeteria. After the shootings, Columbine completely demolished its library, located above the cafeteria, since it was the site where the majority of the deaths occurred. The site was then turned into a memorial ceiling and atrium; a new, larger library was built on the hill where the shooting began and dedicated to the memory of the victims. ^{[13] [14]}

By 2019, the school remained a "macabre tourist attraction" for those fascinated by the massacre, with hundreds stopped annually caught trespassing on the grounds or trying to enter the buildings. In June 2019, the superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools proposed tearing down the school and rebuilding it more securely to lessen its "morbid fascination". ^[15]

2019 Shooting threat

Main article: Sol Pais

On April 15, 2019, 18-year old Sol Pais bought three one-way tickets from Miami International Airport to Denver, Colorado. After arriving in Colorado, Pais bought a pump-action shotgun and ammunition from a dealer she had previously been in contact with.

On April 16, the captain of the Miami Beach Police Department alerted agents with the FBI field office in Miami about a "potential school shooter who is infatuated with Columbine shooter Eric Harris".^{[ citation needed ]} Shortly after Pais was reported missing, investigators gained access to Pais' email, which revealed information for the gun sellers Pais had contacted in Florida. The FBI contacted Pais' Uber driver, who described Pais as cheerful and fluent in Spanish, and had "travelled to Colorado for recreation and was excited to see snow".

At this point, the FBI decided to alert the public due to the danger of a copycat 20th anniversary shooting around April 20 at or near Columbine High School, although April 20 that year was a Saturday. After the manhunt became public, it quickly made national headlines, and hundreds of people called the FBI claiming they had seen Pais panhandling, buying a gun or actually outside of Columbine High School.^{[ citation needed ]} Columbine High School went on lockdown on the afternoon of April 16, and was dismissed normally at the end of the day. With the FBI finding no trace of Pais by the end of the day, Columbine and several dozen schools closed for the day, keeping more than 500,000 students across the state home.

According to Pais' autopsy, however, Pais was already deceased before the manhunt even started on April 15. She had taken about a 40-minute Uber drive from DIA to a mall, and then purchased a shotgun and ammunition from the dealer she had been in contact with previously, before taking another Uber ride from the gun shop "into the mountains" near Mount Evans. According to this Uber driver, Pais "had no food or water and only minimal clothing," and had a "green rifle case" with a "bird hunting gun". Pais apparently committed suicide by gunshot to the head later that night. ^[16]

Attendance zone

Its attendance zone includes the Columbine CDP. ^{[17] [18]}

Notable students

• Darrel Akerfelds – Major League Baseball pitcher playing with the Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies from 1986 through 1991 ^{[19] [20]}
• Sera Cahoone – singer-songwriter ^[21]
• Skip Ewing – country songwriter and artist
• Wes Hart – MLS player who last played for the San Jose Earthquakes
• Allan Kayser – actor who played "Bubba" in the sitcom Mama's Family ^[22]
• Sue Manteris – newscaster on Las Vegas TV media and channel 3; played CNN reporter Sue Tripathi in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
• Todd Park Mohr – guitarist and vocalist of Big Head Todd and the Monsters
• Patrick Neville – politician
• Carlos Samour - Associate Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court
• Jeanie Schroder – member of DeVotchKa
• Longmont Potion Castle – comedian and musician known for albums of recorded absurdist prank calls
• Woody Kincaid – American long-distance runner for Bowerman Track Club

1999 massacre

Perpetrators

• Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold

Victims

• Rachel Scott – the first of the 13 victims killed in the massacre; the youth program Rachel's Challenge was created in her memory
• Cassie Bernall – one of the 13 victims killed in the massacre
• Austin Eubanks – motivational speaker on drug addiction and recovery, and injured survivor of the Columbine High School massacre

See also

• Colorado portal
• Schools portal

• Columbine (book)

References

1. "School's website". Archived from the original on June 8, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2017. 6201 S. Pierce St., Littleton, CO 80123 - Compare the full street address to the maps.
2. "Littleton Zip Codes". City of Littleton. Retrieved July 16, 2024. Zip Code 80123 Area in City Limits Partially
   See also: U.S. Census Block Maps of Columbine census-designated place (CDP): 2020, 2010, 2000 (index and pages 1 and 2), and 1990 (index and pages 30 and 35)
   The City of Houston stated: "The U.S. Postal Service establishes ZIP codes and mailing addresses in order to maximize the efficiency of their system, not to recognize jurisdictional boundaries."
   In the school's postal address, "Littleton" is indicated because its ZIP code, 80123, is primarily associated with that city. Littleton itself, seat of Arapahoe County, is mostly in a different school district, and partly in other districts, with only a small part in Jefferson County Schools (See Census maps of school districts: Arapahoe p 1 (PDF p. 2/3), Douglas with text, Jefferson p 1 (PDF p. 2/3) with text).
3. "Search for Public Schools - CCOLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL (080480000707)". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved March 17, 2024.
4. Jefferson County Historical Commission webpage Archived August 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved April 16, 2016
5. HOPE Columbine Memorial Library Archived April 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved April 16, 2016
6. Cleaned-up Columbine reopens Monday, Fox News, January 26, 2001 . Retrieved April 16, 2016
7. Columbine: Memories at every turn, Denver Post. April 19, 2009 Archived April 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved April 16, 2016
8. "Columbine High School shootings". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
9. Lessons from Littleton (Part I) at the National Association of Independent Schools Archived February 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
10. Laughland, Oliver; Luscombe, Richard; Yuhas, Alan (February 15, 2018). "At least 17 people dead in Florida school shooting: 'It's a horrific, horrific day'". The Guardian . Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
11. Earl, Jennifer (February 14, 2018). "Florida school shooting among 10 deadliest in modern US history". Fox News. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
12. Hill, David (November 1999). "Life After Death – Education Week Teacher". Education Week. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
13. Shepard, C. "Remodeling Columbine High School – the new library, cafeteria, inside and outside". acolumbinesite.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
14. – Remodeling Of School Info Page 2 Archived October 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
15. Turkewitz, Julie; Healy, Jack; Hassan, Adeel (June 7, 2019). "Columbine High School Could Be Torn Down to Deter Copycats". The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
16. "Sol Pais Dead: Massive Colorado Manhunt over - CBS Colorado". CBS News . April 17, 2019.
17. "Columbine CDP" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved March 28, 2020.
18. "High Schools". Jeffco Public Schools . Retrieved March 28, 2020. – Detail map
19. Baseball Almanac Archived October 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
20. "Manager and Coaches". San Diego Padres. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
21. Baca, Ricardo (March 12, 2008). "Now it's only about the music". The Denver Post . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
22. "Allan Kayser". IMDb. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2018.

External links

• Official website