Type Public Principal Wade Bakley Phone +1 503-667-3186 Number of students 2,822 | Opened 1957 Grades 9-12 District Reynolds School District Mascot Raiders | |
Color(s) Forest green, silver and white Athletics conference OSAA Mt. Hood Conference 6A-3 Address 1698 SW Cherry Park Rd, Troutdale, OR 97060, USA | ||
Reynolds High School is the only public high school in Troutdale, Oregon, United States, in the northeastern part of the Portland metropolitan area. It is part of the Reynolds School District, and is the second-largest high school in Oregon.
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History
The school takes its name from the school district, which was named for the Reynolds Aluminum plant in the city that closed in 2000.
On May 29, 1979, a three-alarm fire injured three students and damaged the gym and theater.
Reynolds High School merged with Columbia High School in 1989. Columbia High School is now the site of Reynolds High School, and the former Reynolds High School is now one of three middle schools in the district, Reynolds Middle School.
2014 shooting
On June 10, 2014, an active shooter situation occurred at the school during morning period. One student, 14-year-old freshman Emilio Hoffman, was killed. A physical education teacher suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The shooter, 15-year-old Jared Michael Padgett, who was using an AR-15 and also equipped with a handgun and a knife, engaged a responding officer in a gunfight before retreating inside a school bathroom, where he fatally shot himself. SWAT and FBI agents secured the school. The students were evacuated and were released to their parents at a nearby Fred Meyer store. The shooting occurred on the second-to-last day of the school year.
During the evacuation, a second gun, which was unrelated to the shooting, was found at the scene and one person, who did not have a permit to carry a concealed firearm, was taken into custody. The individual confessed to bringing the gun to the school to protect his sister, a freshman at the school.
Padgett planned to pursue a career in the United States Armed Forces. He was a member of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, and his oldest brother served in the military in Afghanistan. Padgett had managed to acquire his weapons from a secured area in the family home.
The shooting was the first fatal school shooting in Oregon since the 1998 Thurston High School shooting, which left two students and the shooter's parents dead and another 25 wounded.
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber attended a community vigil in Troutdale that evening; he called the shooting "a senseless act of violence". President Barack Obama, speaking at a Tumblr-sponsored question-and-answer session the day of the shooting, declared, "We're the only developed country on earth where this happens." Obama further stated that only a massive shift in public opinion could sway Congress to act in favor of greater gun control measures.
Academics
In 2008, 64% of the school's seniors received their high school diploma. Of 611 students, 388 graduated, 130 dropped out, 39 received a modified diploma, and 54 were in high school.
In 2009, there were nearly 900 freshmen in the incoming class, a record for the school. This was combined with a 25% layoff of teachers, over 40 teachers at the school. This caused class sizes to increase dramatically.