Apalachee High School students returning to class three weeks after shooting

Cars are packed near Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, after a deadly shooting there.
Cars are packed near Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia, after a deadly shooting there. Parents crowded the school to pick up their students after the suspect was in custody. (Chamian Cruz/WABE)

Students at Apalachee High School outside Atlanta will return to campus for half-days beginning next week, Barrow County school officials announced Tuesday, after a Sept. 4 shooting that killed four people and injured nine others.

The school system northeast of Atlanta said the Winder high school will start at the normal time of 8:15 a.m., but it will run with shortened periods and dismiss at 12:40 p.m. between Sept. 24 and Oct. 4. Then the already-scheduled fall break takes place, and officials plan to resume full-day classes after that starting Oct. 14.

The idea is for Apalachee’s 1,900 students to “ease back into the routine at a comfortable pace,” school system officials said in an online document. The district’s 13,000 other students restarted school last week. Superintendent Dallas LeDuff has said more than 90% returned.