Columbine High School

Last updated

Columbine High School
Columbine High School sign.jpg
Address
Columbine High School
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 nameCHS
Type Public high school
Established1973 (1973)
School district Jefferson County R-1
NCES School ID 080480000707 [3]
PrincipalScott Christy
Teaching staff87.17 (on an FTE basis) [3]
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,697 (2018–2019 [3] )
Student to teacher ratio19.47 [3]
Campus typeSuburban
Color(s)Navy blue and silver   
Mascot Rebel
Nickname Rebels
Website columbinehs.jeffcopublicschools.org
Hope Columbine Memorial Library.jpg
The library built after the massacre.
Columbine High School in 2006 Columbine High School Pan.jpg
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

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 Stoneman Douglas 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]

Attendance zone

Its attendance zone includes the Columbine CDP. [16] [17]

Notable students

1999 massacre

Perpetrators

Victims

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbine High School massacre</span> 1999 mass shooting in Columbine, Colorado, US

The Columbine High School massacre, commonly referred to as Columbine, was a school shooting and attempted bombing that occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth-grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered twelve students and one teacher. Ten of the twelve students killed were in the school library, where Harris and Klebold subsequently committed suicide. Twenty-one additional people were injured by gunshots, and gunfire was also exchanged with the police. Another three people were injured trying to escape. The Columbine massacre was the deadliest mass shooting at a K-12 school in U.S. history, until it was surpassed by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012, and later the Uvalde school shooting in May 2022, and the deadliest mass shooting at a high school in U.S. history until the Parkland high school shooting in February 2018. Columbine still remains both the deadliest mass shooting and the deadliest school shooting to occur in the U.S. state of Colorado.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold</span> American mass murderers (1981–1999)

Eric David Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold were American high school seniors who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 in Columbine, Colorado. Harris and Klebold killed 12 students, one teacher, and wounded 24 others. After killing most of their victims in the school's library, they died by self-inflicted gunshot wounds. At the time, it was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.

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Cassie René Bernall was an American student who was killed in the Columbine High School massacre, where 11 more students and a teacher were killed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who then committed suicide. It was reported that Bernall had been asked whether or not she believed in God, and she said "Yes", before being shot during the massacre. However, investigators concluded the person who was asked about her belief in God was Valeen Schnurr, who survived the shooting.

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References

  1. 1 2 "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. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 4 "Search for Public Schools - CCOLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL (080480000707)". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  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 Archived April 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine . 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. ↑ "Columbine CDP" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  17. ↑ "High Schools". Jeffco Public Schools . Retrieved March 28, 2020. – Detail map
  18. ↑ Baseball Almanac Archived October 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ "Manager and Coaches". San Diego Padres. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ "Allan Kayser". IMDb. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
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