Newtown slayings anniversary falls on school day for 1st time
NEWTOWN, Conn. — The third anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre will be the first to fall on a school day — one that Newtown officials will endeavor to make as normal as possible for many students.
The principals at the high school and middle school will note Monday’s significance in remarks before the daily moments of silence. Staff at lowergrade schools will offer parents talking points on how to discuss the shootings with their children. At the Sandy Hook school, the superintendent says, it will be a “full day of school, quality teaching and quality learning.”
Despite efforts to embrace normalcy, students and the town are a long way from recovering from the murders of 20 first-grade children and six educators.
“The expectation that it becomes easier is not realistic,” said First Selectwoman Pat Llodra, the town’s top elected official. “This is a reality that we’re still struggling with.”
Demand for mental health in the schools remains high. Last month, a foundation run by the PTA at Sandy Hook Elementary School awarded the school district a two-year, $500,000 grant to continue in-school mental health programs for students who were in Sandy Hook School the day of the shooting and those who lost brothers or sisters.
Superintendent of Schools Joseph Erardi Jr. is discouraging media coverage Monday in the western Connecticut town of 28,000 people.
“Newtown needs only Newtown on this day,” said Erardi, who became superintendent last year. “There are supports that we have put together.”
The gunman, Adam Lanza, killed his mother inside their Newtown home and later shot his way into the school where he carried out the rampage before killing himself.
The school was demolished, and a new Sandy Hook school is set to open in the fall of 2016 at the same site.