There’s no foolproof guide or perfect answer to how school and district leaders should respond when gun violence infiltrates their buildings. There are many competing responsibilities, questions, priorities, and unique circumstances in both the immediate and long-term aftermath that no single piece of guidance or expert advice will have all the answers.
But over the years, Education Week has documented the steps schools and districts take to help their communities recover from shootings and violence, as well as best practices recommended by professional pediatric and mental health organizations. We have compiled some of those resources below.
While it’s true that school shootings are statistically rare, it’s also true that more and more schools, students, and communities are tasked with navigating the confusing and far-reaching fallout from gun violence on campus. Regrettably, that means there’s a need for these kinds of resources for school leaders following a shooting.
Responding to shootings and providing the right resources
High-profile acts of violence can undermine students’ and educators’ sense of safety and well-being far beyond the communities that experience the violence. Here’s a compilation of advice on how to discuss school shootings with students, based on guidance from school counseling organizations, school psychologists, and the Mayo Clinic. Read the guidance on what to tell students about high-profile violence 🔎
Principals who have led their schools through the aftermath of a school shooting have developed a “Guide to Recovery,” which features strategies to address short- and long-term decisions on reopening, organizing mental health supports for students and staff, managing the flood of donations from well-wishers, planning memorials, and more. Read about the guide 🔎
Teachers who survived mass shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut learned that it’s impossible to ignore the trauma the killings inflict on students. The teachers found ways to incorporate coping mechanisms into their classrooms through, for example, writing exercises in English class and journaling. One teacher kept a journal of her own alongside her students. Read about what they did 🔎
After the shooting at Texas’ Santa Fe High School in 2018, the district provided a multitude of resources, including support dogs, liaisons for those who were most affected, professional development for teachers on identifying and helping struggling students, and time and space for families to discuss their problems and concerns. Watch this video about survivors and what they wish had been different after the shooting 🔎
Violence in the community affects schools, too. A superintendent in Highland Park, Ill., a community that experienced a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in 2022, explained how the district helped people navigate the tragedy—even before classes resumed that fall. Its efforts included ramping up counseling resources at a central location, weekly mental health check-ins for students, and frequent communication about school safety measures. Read the story about what this district did 🔎
It’s important to remember that the impacts of school shootings will reverberate for a long time, and supports for students and staff should remain in place for months or even years, according to professionals. Read this story about survivors’ long road to recovery 🔎
Anniversaries of a tragedy can trigger trauma and prove difficult to maneuver. Some schools, like those in Newtown, Conn., have found that closing down on the anniversary gives students space to process their long-term grief away from news crews that might come around. Others have created new rituals of remembrance, such as days of service or vigils. Read about schools’ rituals for remembrance🔎
Preventing and preparing for violence in schools
Responding to school threats isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Here’s a breakdown of why it’s so complicated, and what districts need to know about their responsibilities. Read about the promise and limits of school-based threat assessment 🔎
Active shooter drills have become the norm in K-12 schools—the trainings are required in at least 40 states—but districts need to be careful about how they’re conducted to avoid traumatizing students and staff, particularly those who have already experienced violence. Read this advice from principals on staging drills that prepare but don’t traumatize 🔎
Students don’t always stay in the same school or district for the remainder of their academic careers after experiencing a school shooting. The mother of a student who was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2013 explains that the most crucial help administrators at the new school can offer is to ask about new students’ backgrounds explicitly, and then talk through what they need and the support that’s available. Read about what parents of shooting survivors say schools can offer their kids 🔎
How to lead schools after violent acts and take care of yourself
Administrators face the dual challenge of leading their communities through recovery and processing their own trauma following gun violence on campus. Three school leaders said prioritizing their own need to process what they were going through—through therapy, exercise, and journaling, for example—helped them better show up for their communities. Read about what these school leaders did to help themselves 🔎
There is an organized group that connects administrators whose schools and districts have experienced gun violence, and are ready to offer advice and support to others who experience similar tragedies. Read about the Principal Recovery Network 🔎
