Back to school for Sandy Hook kids

Published: January 04. 2013 4:00AM PST

For more than 400 students who escaped a gunman’s rampage that killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, the return to school Thursday was somewhat new: familiar desks, but in a different school in a different town. Students, teachers and administrators were met by a large police presence outside their new school in neighboring Monroe, where a middle school that had been shuttered for nearly two years was overhauled and renamed. Police Lt. Keith White said attendance was good and the children were getting back to business as usual. “A lot of them were happy to see their friends they hadn’t seen in a while," he said. Most of the students arrived at the new school in Monroe by bus, something school officials had suggested to help them get back into a familiar routine. On the way to Monroe on Thursday were 26 angel signs along the side of the road. About 80 parents attended an assembly with school and police officials, who fielded questions about security and activities planned for their children. Also Thursday, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy announced the creation of an advisory commission that will review and recommend changes to state laws on guns, school safety measures and mental health services.
The Associated Press

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