DENVER – East High School families will have unlimited access to the Denver Zoo through the beginning of May following last week’s shooting on campus that left two school deans injured – the latest in a string of violent incidents at or near the school that prompted district officials to reintroduce armed officers at high schools across the city.
“We’re heartbroken by the recent tragedies at @DenverEastHS, and extend our thoughts and love to those struggling with the trauma of another campus shooting,” Denver Zoo officials tweeted Monday. “As the school’s next-door neighbor, we stand in solidarity with the Angels community and offer our support.”
We’re heartbroken by the recent tragedies at @DenverEastHS, and extend our thoughts and love to those struggling with the trauma of another campus shooting. As the school’s next-door neighbor, we stand in solidarity with the Angels community and offer our support. pic.twitter.com/l41HFB38Tt
— Denver Zoo (@DenverZoo) March 27, 2023
Effective immediately and through May 1, all students, faculty and staff at East High – as well as their immediate family members – will have “free, unlimited access” to the Denver Zoo. Anyone from the East High community wishing to take advantage of this opportunity will only be asked to present their school ID at the main entrance. Advanced reservations are not required.
“It’s our sincerest hope that we serve as a place of comfort, safety, gathering and healing for everyone in our beloved community, and especially those coping with acts of senseless gun violence,” officials said.
Hundreds of students and teachers used a day that was supposed to be about healing after the shooting of two school administrators to march and rally at the Colorado State Capitol for the second time in a month, demanding lawmakers do something to end gun violence in schools.
A day earlier, the Denver Public School Board of Education announced the district would be reintroducing school resource officers citing “an increase in gun violence within our communities, which poses a threat to the safety of our schools.”
At a closed-door special meeting following the shooting, superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero was directed by the Board to come up with a long-term safety plan by June 30 to address safety across city schools. The plan will be reviewed by the Board before members vote on it prior to the start of the 2023-24 school year.
