Joplin High School
On May 22, 2011, a tornado that killed 161 people in Joplin extensively damaged the high school and Franklin Tech. The high school's graduation ceremonies had just taken place about three miles away on the Missouri Southern State University campus shortly before the tornado struck.
According to principal Kerry Sachetta, "You see pictures of World War II, the devastation and all that with the bombing. That's really what it looked like. I couldn't even make out the side of the building. It was total devastation in my view. I just couldn't believe what I saw." In the weeks after the tornado, it was determined that the campus was irreparable and would need to be completely rebuilt. 
Planning for a temporary school began four days after the May 22 tornado. School officials announced in June 2011 that juniors and seniors in the 2011-12 class (and possibly later) would attend classes in a section of Northpark Mall. Classes began in the renovated former Shopko location as scheduled on August 17, 2011.
Joplin, Missouri
Joplin has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa"), as defined by the Köppen climate classification system, with cool, dry winters and hot, humid summers; the severe weather season from April through June is the wettest time of year. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July. On average, 51 days of + highs, 3.5 days of + highs, 14 days where the high fails to rise above freezing, and 1.9 nights of sub- occur per year. It has an average annual precipitation of , including an average of snow. Extremes in temperature range from on February 13, 1905 up to on July 14, 1954; the last or below and the last + reading occurred on February 3 and August 2, 2011, respectively. The city is located in Tornado Alley. Several storms have hit the city, including an F3 tornado in 1971, a tornado in 1973, an EF1 tornado on May 8, 2009, a blizzard on February 1, 2011, and an EF5 tornado on May 22, 2011.