Florida School Shooting: Teachers Return To Classrooms

PARKLAND, FL — As a rainbow formed high above the campus, teachers returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Monday for the first of two in-service days before students make their return. The teachers found tight security and parents wishing them a "fabulous day." Broward school officials have no plans to reopen Building 12, which was the scene of a murderous rampage by a lone gunman who killed 17 and injured 16 others less than two weeks ago.

Students are set to return Wednesday for their first day of classes though some have said they were apprehensive about setting foot on the tree-lined campus so soon after the tragedy. One student told an interviewer over the weekend that it was not unlike being asked to return to an airplane that crashed.

"She's alive. She's physically fine. She doesn't want to come back and I don't blame her," one father said of his daughter to Local 10 News in Miami as he held a sign welcoming back teachers.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel last week ordered his deputies to begin patrolling all county schools with rifles, in most cases AR-15s similar to the assault rifle used by the gunman in the Stoneman Douglas attack.

See also Florida School Shooting: Calls To Fire Sheriff

School district officials have described the return of students as a "phased reopening" that began on Sunday with a voluntary orientation.

The school will operate on a modified schedule from 7:40 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. from Wednesday until Friday when the 3,300 students are once again back on the campus following a series of painful public memorials and funerals for the victims.

Broward school officials posted a photo of Principal Ty Thompson hugging students and parents as he promised to do immediately following the horrific tragedy in a video posted on the school's website.

Meanwhile, a tearful student who was wounded in the shooting rampage thanked the doctors and first responders who helped her and said Monday she is making a full recovery.

Speaking at a hospital news conference, Maddy Wilford, 17, said “it’s times like these when I know that we need to stick together.”

Wilford has undergone three surgeries since the Feb. 14 shooting. She appeared at the news conference with her parents and with doctors and first responders who helped her.

"I just want to send my appreciation and love out to all of you," she said.

Some professional baseball teams including the Miami Marlins donned Stoneman Douglas caps at spring training to show their support for survivors and victims of the tragedy while the Florida Panthers and Miami Heat also remembered the victims.

"The love you shared and continue to share is going to help us get through these trying times," Thompson promised in a video posted on the school's website. "And Eagles I promise you, I will hug each and every one of you as many times as you need. And I will hold you as long as you need me to for all 3,300 of you and your families."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas Principal Ty Thompson hugs students courtesy Broward County Public Schools