EVERGREEN, Colo. — Thursday marks one year since a shooting at Evergreen High School critically injured two students before the gunman killed himself.
Investigators said the shooter appeared to have been drawn into extremist material online in the months before the attack, though a full motive was never confirmed.
This week, the school district is offering students, staff, and families a range of ways to reflect on their resilience since the tragic day. The district says its approach has been guided by care, connection, and respect for the many different ways people may choose to navigate the milestone.
"There is no single right way to experience these days, and all of the opportunities outlined below are intended to provide options for connection — not expectations for participation," the district said.
That includes acknowledging that some students may not want to be at school at all on the anniversary.
"We also recognize that families know their students best," the district said. "If staying home that day is what feels right for your student or family, we respect that decision. Please excuse your student's absence through Infinite Campus as you normally would."
Among the options being offered this week is a student gathering at the Lake House. The district was clear that showing up is entirely up to each student.
"Participation is completely optional," the district said. "Students do not need to attend school that day in order to attend the Lake House gathering, and no student is expected or required to participate in the event."
The shooting shook the small mountain community of Evergreen, about 28 miles southwest of Denver, and drew law enforcement support from across the metro area. In the year since, investigators have continued piecing together what led up to the attack, including the shooter's online activity in the months beforehand.
For the Evergreen community, this week is about giving people room to process that history in whatever way works for them — whether that means attending a gathering, staying home, or something in between.
For Echo Robbins, a senior at Evergreen High School, this week carries both progress and grief.
"I'm feeling a lot better. I think all of us have healed and grown up a lot since that day," Robbins said. "There's, of course, a little bit of sadness in the air that everything happened and now here's where we are, and we have to memorialize it. We're all a lot stronger, and I think it's impactful."
Robbins said the first weeks after the shooting were the hardest.
"It was really difficult for the first couple weeks. It was sparse. It was completely uncertain, but it was always very clear that we had each other," Robbins said. "I remember spending every single day — I would go out with my friends somewhere, and we would talk. We would make plans for the next day, and we would just take it one day at a time until we were back in school and back in routine."
Robbins said her faith played a role in coping too.
"I said a couple prayers. I went to synagogue. There was a memorial at my synagogue for the shooting, and I'm just always kind of praying, thinking there's a little bit of, what could we have done differently — but it's important to me not to dwell on that as much," Robbins said.
Asked what school is like now, Robbins said it's different, but familiar routines have returned.
"They're good. They're different. There's a lot of people, including myself, who have said they can't be the same afterwards, but I think as American students going to an American school, we go to get our education knowing the risk, and we go back there every day way more aware of the risk," Robbins said. "We weren't before that. It could never be us, and it was. And now everyone's paying way more attention to the news, to the school shootings, to the gun violence."
Robbins, who works on the school newspaper, said the publication has stayed strong since the shooting.
"We've kept it in pretty good momentum since the shooting last year, and we're excited to keep expressing our news and ourselves in a context that we approve of as students and that we can control," Robbins said. "It's been really nice to have a sort of pattern of free speech where we can know that our voices are heard, published, and read by other people, including administration, including news figures, political figures."
Looking back on the year, Robbins pointed to the return of normal school life as a source of pride.
"We can never move on, but we've stopped letting it define us as much, and we've redirected ourselves to be able to move back towards normal school identity — like football games, school spirit," Robbins said. "Our marching band is competing again, so are all of our sports teams, and everything feels like it's as normal as it can be. I think it's just so wonderful of everyone to be strong enough and resilient enough to make those changes and recover like that."
Robbins graduates this year and hopes to stay connected to Evergreen after moving on to college.
"I don't think anyone's going to forget it," Robbins said. "I have dreams where I'm back in the choir room, sardined with all of my classmates, waiting to get an all-clear — just some assurance that everything was okay outside. Those were the worst couple hours of all of our lives."
Fellow senior Alex Ostrovskiy said this week has brought a wave of support.
"It's been awesome. There's been so much support and so many activities that they're having us doing, which really is a great way to build a community," Ostrovskiy said.
Asked how it feels to reach the one-year mark, Ostrovskiy described a sense of readiness.
"I'm feeling like I'm ready to go and reclaim my future," Ostrovskiy said. "We have had time to grieve. We have had time to process. We've had time to make adjustments."
Ostrovskiy said the shooting has left a lasting mark.
"I think the main one is that I have some form of PTSD when it comes to loud, sudden noises," Ostrovskiy said. "I just can't bear them. It's not great, but other than that, I'd say mostly it's been fine."
Ostrovskiy said the school community has worked to make sure support systems outlast this year's senior class.
"It's going wonderful. I think that we've done a lot this year to ensure that it can continue when the current class, my class, graduates," Ostrovskiy said.
"Whatever is next for me, I feel confident in saying that EHS helped me get there," Ostrovskiy said. "I think I've become a lot closer to the community since the shooting. I've made a lot of connections; I've met a lot of new people. So it definitely has changed some aspects of my life. I wouldn't say it changed me."
He added that he believes the community is ready for what comes next.
"I'm feeling that Evergreen has come together, and it's time to close the chapter," Ostrovskiy said. "And it's time to open a new chapter in the year 2026, 2027, and you don't have to make illusions back."
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