According to CNN, the new school “bears no memories or resemblance of the old building”, save for the presence of Shelley the turtle.
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The new facility, which will house more than 500 students from pre-K through fourth grade when it opens next month, will retain its predecessor’s name.
While the thought of the tragedy remains, the new Sandy Hook Elementary School is a marvel.
The new Sandy Hook School, which will feature heavy-duty windows and sophisticated video surveillance, was built with a US$50 million (S$67 million) grant from the state of CT in the small leafy town of Newtown, two and a half hours by auto north-east of New York City.
The school was designed, officials said, to be attractive, environmentally friendly, conducive to learning and, above all, safe.
The community was given the opportunity Friday to tour the new 86,000 square-foot building. The fate of the 57-year-old building was decided by a 28-member task force of elected officials following a series of public hearings.
The 59 first-graders who survived the Sandy Hook Massacre will not be returning to the new school as they and the rest of their class, 79 students total, are moving up to the fifth-grade at Reed Intermediate School.
Prospective parents and the media were given a chance to look around the old school’s $US50m replacement, which is on the same spot but is built to a different footprint.
The new Sandy Hook campus has incorporated design elements that were recommended by the School Safety Infrastructure Commission, which was formed in early 2013 by the CT legislature to develop guidelines for bolstering school security.
School Superintendent Joseph Erardi, who joined the district in 2014, said some of the top school-safety experts in the country reviewed and approved the design.
“You know when you get here, and there are kids and you’re teaching, that’s your focus”, said Gombos.
“When students come in that front door, they’re going to see their turtle”, Llodra said. “It was important to listen to them”, said Julia McFadden, an architect with Svigals + Partners and the project manager.
In December 2012, gunman Adam Lanza shot dead 20 children and six teachers in the school, before turning the gun on himself.
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The nature-themed, two-story school takes after what the community is most familiar with, Newtown’s green scenery. Principal Kathy Gombos said she expects the move to the new building to be emotional. The school will be more about the future than the past.
