The Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis will resume some limited activities this week, nearly three weeks after a mass shooting that killed two children and injured 21 other people.
“We will this week resume some on-campus activities related to the school,” a spokesperson for the school told ABC News.
“The church has not reopened and we’ve not yet announced a timetable for that event,” the spokesperson added.
From Tuesday, Sept. 16 through Thursday, Sept. 18, the school will “offer students of all grades activities centered on support, connection, and play,” according to the spokesperson, with no activities scheduled for Friday.
“We have spent the past week preparing for a safe, supportive resumption that is focused on healing and connection,” school officials said in a media statement Sunday. “We recognize that, while we walk our path together, some members of our community walk at different paces and with other steps.”
Support staff from Washburn Center for Children and the Minnesota Department of Education will be on campus this week, along with increased security presence, according to the media statement.
The school spokesperson told ABC News there was no “one-size-fits-all answer” to how families felt about returning to campus.
“We are, however, walking this path together and in support of one another,” the spokesperson said, noting the “amazing embrace of love and support from the larger community.”
School officials said they would announce plans for the week of Sept. 22 first to families and staff before sharing with the public.
The reopening comes as the community continues to mourn Harper Moyski, 10, and Fletcher Merkel, 8, who were killed in the Aug. 27 shooting.
Hundreds gathered Sunday at an outdoor amphitheater to remember Harper Moyski, according to Minneapolis ABC station KSTP. Moyski’s mother, Jackie Flavin, described her daughter as “sharp, curious, funny and fierce” and who dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.
“She just packed so much joy and imagination into her short 10 years, and thank God, thank God she made it all count,” Flavin said.
Police identified the shooter as Robin Westman, 23, a former student whose mother had worked at the church until 2021. Authorities said Westman fired more than 100 rounds through church windows during Mass before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Westman had “a deranged obsession with previous mass shooters” but they did not believe he had any previous arrests or civil commitments for mental health issues.