A first look at the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, rebuilt after the old Sandy Hook Elementary School was torn down following Adam Lanza’s rampage in December 2012, will be available on Friday.
The school built to replace the Newtown, Connecticut school where 20 first-graders and six teachers were killed was designed to be environmentally friendly and safe. A media tour of the facility will occur prior to a public open house on Friday.
The new school was funded by a state grant, including safety features such as impact-resistant windows and state-of-the-art video monitoring. The ground floors were built elevated to make it harder to see inside classrooms from outside the school. Anyone approaching the school can be seen by those inside and can enter across one of three pedestrian bridges. The school also includes treehouses and courtyards.
Sandy Hook students had been attending school in Monroe, which reopened an elementary school for Sandy Hook students after the shooting.
About 390 students enrolled for the fall, and 70 of the students, now fourth-graders, attended the old school when the shooting occurred, according to Superintendent Joseph Erardi. About 30 students were in the building when the shooting occurred, but none of them witnessed it. Erardi also said that only about half of the staff members from the old school are still with the school. Students and staff will be provided with special resources to ease the return.
The $50 million, 86,000-square-foot project was built on the same property as the original school; it is scheduled to open next month.
First Selectman Pat Llodra spoke on the reopening of the school.
“Our goal was to create a place of community and learning, a place that would honor those we lost and allow those who were left behind the chance to move forward.”
