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Subscribe to RSSAfter three long and challenging weeks, Sandy Hook Elementary students returned to class Thursday at a nearby middle school in Monroe, Conn., where they will remain until their old school is no longer designated a crime scene. NBC's Rehema Ellis reports.
The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School returned to class Thursday, filling buses that took them to a new building where they were thrilled to reconnect with their friends and teachers after three weeks of mourning.
“Most of the kids were excited,” said Monroe, Conn., Police Lt. Keith White.
“They were anxious to get into the hallways and meet up with the other kids, and you could see the teachers had the same response.”
The 400-plus students had not been back to school since Adam Lanza blasted his way into Sandy Hook and killed 20 first-graders, six staffers and himself with a semi-automatic rifle.
Their old school in Newtown is still a crime scene, so an unused middle school in nearby Monroe was refurnished for them.
Teachers tried to make the new surroundings as familiar as possible. Their old desks were brought in, along with backpacks, coats, and lunch boxes that were left behind as they fled on Dec. 14.
Even the new principal was a known face: Donna Page, who retired from the role at Sandy Hook in 2010, agreed to come back after her successor, Dawn Hochsprung, was killed in the rampage.
Yet there were also reminders of how much the Sandy Hook community has changed since the shooting rocked the nation and stirred debate on gun control.
Monroe Police Dept. / AP
This photo provided by the Monroe Police Department shows the new Sandy Hook Elementary School on the first day of classes in Monroe, Conn. The school, formerly known as Chalk Hill School, was overhauled especially for the students from Sandy Hook
Police officers and counselors were on hand. Parents were allowed to stay in the building for the day. And children cuddled with therapy dogs.
He said attendance was robust, with most school buses full as they rumbled down streets that had been decorated with balloons and welcome signs.
Andrew Paley said he waited for the bus with his 9-year-old twins at the bottom of his driveway Thursday morning.
“They just ran on. They didn’t even look back,” he said. “There was probably some anxiety but it was more excitement. They both love school, so they loved going back.’
PhotoBlog: See images of Sandy Hook students returning to class for first day
While security was very visible, it will become more low-key as the weeks pass in an effort to restore some normalcy.
“We don’t want them to think this is a police state,” White said. “We want them to know that this is a school and a school first, and that’s a place that they are to come to learn, enjoy their friends and grow up.
“We want to move on and let the kids move on, too.”
Lt. Keith White says Sandy Hook students were excited to see friends as they returned to school on Thursday for the first time since the Dec. 14 massacre in Newtown, Conn.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said it took a “Herculean effort” to prepare the school in Monroe for the Sandy Hook kids.
He also announced a commission that will spearhead legislative and policy reforms designed to ensure no other children have to endure the horror they survived.
“We don’t yet know the underlying cause behind this tragedy, and we probably never will,” he said, referring the mystery of Lanza’s motive for attacking the school. “But that cannot be an excuse for inaction.”
He said the 15-member commission would look at three areas -- school security, mental health services, and gun laws.
“If 30-round clips had continued to be illegal in the nation or in our state, the availability of that clip to this particular perpetrator may not have existed,” Malloy said.
“These things aren’t used to hunt deer. You don’t need a 30-round clip to go hunting ... to honor the Constitution of the United States.”
The panel, which will issue recommendations in March, will be headed by Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson, who said the issues resonated with him personally.
“This is an issue that touches us all,” Jackson said. “My son is in first grade.”
NBC News' Joo Lee contributed to this report.
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
Children from Sandy Hook Elementary School make their way to their new school in Monroe Conn. As they leave Newtown on Jan. 3.
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Leave a Comment:
Lanza was going for the record but came up a little short.
So are are most kids back, big deal get over with the crap, and stop putting everything under the microscope. Move on people !!
The media mentioned the first few funerals then quit reporting about the rest.. Why? I think they should have reported all of them since they all deserve the same.. This whole thing was a tragety and a freak thing. The area is a good area, and after some time the police wont be there as much to watch the school cause it is a safe place. I still think we should post two officers at each school or like i said from day one use OUR military to protect OUR country and OUR kids. Or use Veterans.. There are tons of unemployed Veterans that would gladly stand post at schools everywhere.
Just think! If they had armed security at the school we wouldn't even be having this discussion today. Say what you may but gun free zones only invite nuts into these places.
Is that what your crystal ball says? Or does it say that there would have been one more victim? Hmmm…
Wake up and smell the gun powder, dumb ass.
I agree - every school should have an armed guard - Obama's two girls have 11 armed guards protecting them but Obama doesn't think we should have any for our kids - take those 11 guards protecting his TWO girls and put them in 11 school and about 7000 kids could be protected - I'm sick of Obama and his arrogant family throwing around taxpayer money for him and his family and to heck with America. I'm also sick of hearing about this tragedy - let it rest - Media clamps on a story and won't let it go!
Glad to see that the school was able to find an empty building to use as their school.Columbine had to go double sessions to finish out their school year. I am sure after today the media will be gone.The story was written today to let people like us read and know what was happening there.
New school . OH my god these kids went through such hell and like a new school is gonna make them forget. Not. These kids went through the ultimate hell.
Children, GOD's greatest creation. Must say, I have been impressed as always when I see a child. From the baby that reached for the Doctor's hand while in her mother womb, to all of these kids returning to school today, just wanted to say thanks. Children are a true inspiration in life. 'Something' is trying to be said by them, are we listening?
I hate CNN, MSNBC and Fox channels. They never let anyone breathe in the midst of a disaster or during the healing thereafter, there oughta be a law!
I'm surprised someone hasn't filed a lawsuit to have the roadside signs with angels on them removed as a violation of the separation of church & state.
Those angel signs are in someone's front yard. I live in the area and have passed them several times.
Sandy Hook now has armed security !! Obama's kids school has always had armed security !!! DOES YOUR SCHOOL HAVE ARMED SECURITY ?? Obama doesn't want you to have armed school security !!! Obama just want's to play the liberal gun grabber game and make new gun laws that will do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING !!!! are your kids safe ???
Seriously, why is this news?
Did people think they were never going back to school? Was everyone in the entire city just going to stop living? Were people expecting mass suicides from local towns people? Maybe you drmaa queens just thought everyone would move out of that city and it would be nothign but a ghost town? FAR worse things happen every single day that a school shooting in a US town. Stop being so self centered and 'whoe is me'.
Don't be so @!$%#ing dramatic. Life moves on.
Those kids, along with the killer, will be forgotten in a couple short years like the other 100 billion people that have ever lived.
You'll have your little moment of symbolic silence in a year, which does anyone and everyone, even more so the dead, jack @!$%#. Nothing more than a shallow attempt to raise yourself higher than the people around you so you can look down at people over nose.
Bunch of drama queens making a big deal out of something that is said and done.
Your all tools being used to get ratings for said media's.... get in line sheep...
Ass hat. These kids will never be forgotten. Go back under the bridge.
Americans with compassion will never forget these children or this tragedy.
You're a complete moron.
Neither of you will remember any of these kids for the simple fact that you never knew them, FACT.
I bet you said the same thing after Columbine too... and the movie theater... and OK city bombing... and .. and.. and..
Cold hard truth.
Just a shallow attempt to make yourself feel better thinking your some sort of better citizen for lying that you will remember...
Praying for the people of this town. They don't need petty arguements and big opinions, as I am sure they will figure out how to handle things themselves. They will decide what's best for their children and schools, not a lot big mouths on here.
I agree with some the people bringing this up with all the poster and signs and the media pushing the memories down thier throat is wrong. I do not mean forget it becasue do not see how they can but let is rest so they can move on.
I wonder if NRA headquarters is heavily guarded? Perhaps, someone could find out if Mr. LaPierre were in there and blow the doors open and go in search; thus making an example of his stupid suggestion. Yes, the Bushmaster fires a .223 and it is considered an assault rifle just like the AR-15 it was patterned after. I don't know how many of you have seen a watermelon, or pumkin shot just two or three times with either weapon but there is very little left and remember the Sandy Hook kids who were killed were shot a minimum of 3 times and many of the kids at least 11 times. As I've said before, the undertakers had no head or face to work with in preparing these kids for burial. I am a retired Air Force Veteran who does believe in the right to own firearms but NOT weapons like what Mr. Lanza used on these kids.
Is there any possibility that you might also be a proponent of doing something about mental illness and the lackadaisical free rein the mentally ill are given in our society? Just wondering.
"Authorities won’t elaborate on security measures, but several security devices have been put in place and police are stopping every vehicle that goes onto the campus."
I just have to wonder how long these security measures will last. For good like they should, or until at some time in the future they garner a false sense of security and once again begin to drop their guard. It's plainly obvious that all schools across this great land definitely needs to do something about the general publics freedom to come and go as they please while our children are present. Not necessarily armed guards or police, but there are other measures that can be taken to successfully eliminate the threat of this ever happening again. Unlocked doors and allowing any and everyone free access just isn't going to cut it any longer.
This school was locked. The sick scum shot his way in. The only thing that might have stopped him would have been if one of the workers in the front office was experienced with a gun and able to shoot the bastard before he got any further into the school.
Yeah, it WAS locked, but the dummies had huge non burglar proof plate glass windows on each side of the doors, worthless as tits on a boar hog when it comes to security. Had those windows been laminated with anti theft mesh in between the glass the perp still would have not gotten in. BTW, I don't necessarily disagree with an armed guard, or even arming teachers as far as that goes, but the the libs will NEVER EVER go for it, or anything else that will be anything near sensible and effective. They always want to try what has always proven NOT to work. Time after time after.........
Look up the photo of Obama with Emily Parker at the Sandy Hook memorial.
She supposedly died during the massacre. On the photo with Obama, she is wearing the same clothes as on the fake family photo with the father who was caught laughing and smiling before his speech at the memorial.
Sandy Hook was staged, and Obama participated in the murder of those childrens.
Moron. Go back to your mother's basement with your Xbox.
I doubt he's intelligent enough to use an xbox. Give him a coloring book and send him to the basement.
I think that is the healthy thing to do. Be strong and move on. Kids are so much more resilient and stronger than we give them credit for. I have faith that most of these kids will bounce back with minimal pain and suffering. I'm sure this will be harder for the adults, though. Divorce and tragedies in general seem to be hardest for the older kids. I think showing emotion and crying a bit will be good for the kids and the teachers. They can't pretend it didn't happen, or ignore what happened. There will be appropriate times for them to learn and to cry and heal, too.
"FULL BUSES!" That is wonderful. I'm so proud of how this community is dealing with this tragedy. This is healthy and they aren't letting fear control the situation.
Glad to hear that heavily armed security with semi-auto assault weapons are now in place even though liberal ABC will not report all the details. NRA was right.
Opps! I mean MSNBC (liberal media is so much alike, it all runs together)
#!/events/133465640143141/
Wow. I can't believe people are on here slamming the president and promoting guns on our school campuses. So sad what has become of our nation.
Copy and Paste to join our Group honoring all the people of Sandy Hook.
#!/events/133465640143141/
That's why potential attackers will probably wait a while. Given the masses of guns purchased as a result of the massacre, they will have their pick of weapons, both illegally from burglaries and legally via private sales.
Now we learn there was no long guns used In the shooting It was all a trumped up lie by the liberal and communist media.
. . That picture with the street signs painted angels - I'll bet slowed down some drivers.........good