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.
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The construction site of the new Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, appears in a photo dated July 29, 2016.
This August will experience the return of 70 new fourth-graders to Sandy Hook Elementary School, who were only kindergarteners in 2012, and nearly a half of the school’s total staff.
She spoke about how the community chose to move forward with plans to rebuild the school on the same street but on a different location than its predecessor, Sandy Hook Elementary School, which was demolished following the mass shooting that left 27 dead on December 14, 2012. But so far, she said, teachers, parents and students who have toured the new building have been smiling. The new school will educate a little less than 400 students from prekindergarten through to the fourth grade.
“You know when you get here, and there are kids and you’re teaching, that’s your focus”, said Gombos. “It was done so respectfully and so tastefully”.
“Our job was to listen”, said Julia McFadden, associate principal of Svigals + Partners, lead architects on the project.
While the new school may never erase the pain of that day, officials believe its state-of-the-art safety features will keep the young students of this small CT town safe from any threat.
Visitors will need to pass through a driveway gate, across a moat-like rain garden and past two police officers and a video monitoring system to get inside. The ground floor is elevated in an effort to make it harder to see inside of the classrooms from outside the building, and the new Sandy Hook Elementary School grounds has been landscaped to ensure that anyone who is approaching the school is clearly visible to all persons inside.
Windows and doors are bulletproof.
A playground bench is colorfully decorated at the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, Friday, July 29, 2016, in Newtown, Conn. Almost 400 students will be attending the school. Only about 30 of them were in the building at the time, he said, attending the morning kindergarten session.
Because of retirements and transfers, about 60 percent of the staff members from the original Sandy Hook are still with the school, he said.
The Sandy Hook massacre prompted President Barack Obama to launch an unsuccessful drive to tighten United States gun laws, after which he assailed the Republican-controlled Congress for blocking reforms that would have toughened background checks on gun buyers. She mentioned the green glass mural’s message, which she said will convey a message for all who enter the school.
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”.
Remington wants many company records requested by the families’ lawyers sealed from public view, saying disclosing them would hurt the company financially and benefit competitors.
There will be a more public memorial elsewhere in town. The school will be more about the future than the past.
“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.
