After three and a half years of grieving the unspeakable tragedy that unfolded at Sandy Hook Elementary School in late 2012, students and parents will return to a new school building this fall that is meant to heal and protect, as well as educate.
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The center courtyard of the newly constructed Sandy Hook Elementary School, built to replace the building torn down after a gunman shot dead 20 young children and six educators in a 2012 massacre, is pictured in Newtown, Connecticut, U.S. July 29, 2016.
Melisa Horan went with her sixth-grade age son who is now too old for the prekindergarten-to-fourth-grade school but wanted to see what the new building looked like.
But architects – who consulted the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a number of state and local agencies and the community – made sure little resembles the old building.
The school opened to the media and community members a month before students head back to school in the hopes of making the move easier for everyone involved.
In addition, the ground floor was built slightly elevated, making it hard for possible perpetrators to see inside classrooms. Teachers can lock classroom doors and windows from the inside, and key cards are required at entrances and exits throughout the school.
About 35 returning students were in kindergarten at the time of the shooting and are now returning as fourth graders. Others left through retirement or job changes, and a handful chose to transfer as part of their recovery process, he said. It is Shelley the turtle, who according to Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra has remained with Sandy Hook for over a decade. She mentioned the green glass mural’s message, which she said will convey a message for all who enter the school.
Ms Gombos, whose predecessor Dawn Hochsprung was among those killed, said: ‘There have been some tears, but I think after they spend about an hour or so here, they feel like it’s going to be an unbelievable learning space for kids’.
The only obvious remembrance of the shooting was a green magnet on a refrigerator in one classroom that was created to resemble a memorial ribbon with the date of the shooting on it and the words, “We’ll always remember”.
There will be a more public memorial elsewhere in town. Sadly, at St. Rose’s Cemetery, less than a mile from the school, there lay many first graders who will never return to school again.
“The intent of this building is to offer a warm and comfortable environment for students”, said Dr. John Erardi, Newtown School District superintendent.
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An open house for the new school, erected on the same site, is set for Friday, July 29, 2016.
