Police officers and increased security measures greeted Sandy Hook Elementary School students as they returned to class at Chalk Hill Middle School, a previously empty school located about 7 miles away from Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. Chalk Hill is now equipped with more locks and security cameras, and parents dropping their children off on Thursday were required to provide ID to officers.
School officials worked hard to make the return to school as familiar as possible. In the three weeks since the December 14 shooting that left over two dozen people dead, desks, rugs, furniture and other supplies have been moved from Sandy Hook to Chalk Hill. "(We want) to have as much (of) a normal routine as possible. (Thursday) is a regular schedule, and we will do the kinds of things that we know are good for kids," said Newtown School District Superintendent Janet Robinson.
Counselors were on hand Thursday to make the adjustment easier for students, parents and staff. Parents were given the option to take their children to class and to stay in a separate room at the school for as long as they wanted.
Twenty children and six adults died at Sandy Hook Elementary when 20-year-old Adam Lanza forced his way into the school and opened fire with an assault rifle and two handguns. He killed himself as police arrived. Investigators later found Lanza’s mother, Nancy Lanza, dead in her bed. She had been shot four times in the head.
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