Post date: Jan 02, 2013 10:28:42 PM
The surviving children of a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticutprepare to return to class. Meanwhile new data shows FBI background checks for gun buyers soared in December 2012, setting a new record.
MONROE, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 2, 2013) (REUTERS) - Many of the children who escaped last month's massacre at a Newtown,Connecticut, elementary school will get their first glimpse of their new school on Wednesday afternoon (January 2), which has been decked out as a "Winter Wonderland" with the help of thousands of children from around the country.
More than 400 Sandy Hook Elementary School students, from kindergarten to Grade 4, will return to classes on Thursday (January 3) for the first time since the December 14 attack.On Wednesday afternoon the children and their parents were invited for a walk through at their new school in neighboring Monroe.
Armed police will be on hand on Thursday when the pupils arrive at the former Chalk Hill Middle School in Monroe, about 8 miles south of the Sandy Hook school. Sandy Hookremains an active crime scene and is closed to anyone but police.
The school has also been equipped with a new security system, which will also be installed in Newtown's seven other schools shortly, Newtown School SuperintendentJanet Robinson said in an email to district parents.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Robinson added, "Right now, Chalk Hill has been transformed from a middle school to a very cheerful, nurturing elementary school, but that's been the work of a lot of people. And the governor just walked through and was amazed at the transformation that has taken place there. The staff have come in and at times when I walked through last week, there would be one of the Newtown teachers with three of the Monroe teachers in a room, with the Monroe teachers volunteering to help set up the classrooms. It took a great deal of stress off of our teachers to have all this work done. We have had incredible support from Monroe in all these aspects. We do have mental health workers with each of our schools and a larger staff has been assigned to Sandy Hook school, which by the way, if you notice the sign, it has been renamed Sandy Hook school."
"The children are coming in. They are so excited to see their teachers. And the students coming in completes a circle. That's what's missing right now, is getting our students back," she explained.
Monroe police lieutenant, Keith White, said the safety of the school children will not be in question.
"I think right now. It has to be the safest school in America," White said.
"We have many different options in place. Most of the Monroe schools were already monitored at the police department with cameras. We've actually installed numerous, different security devices at this school and we are going to remain our presence on location until further notice," he added.
Chalk Hill will also be decorated with thousands of paper snow flakes and other decorations made by other students from Newtown and around the country to help lift spirits of the 436 children scheduled to return to school.
So many decorations have been donated that organizers have asked for no more to be submitted.
At Chalk Hill, the students will have a new principal, Donna Page, because Sandy HookPrincipal Dawn Hochsprung was among the six adults killed in last month's attack. Page is a former administrator in Newtown schools who has agreed to serve as interim principal while a permanent successor is sought.
The U.S. national debate on guns has grown louder since December 14 when Adam Lanza forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 20 children and six adults before committing suicide in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
Interest in guns tends to increase after a mass shooting, as customers fear for personal safety or worry that lawmakers might ban certain firearms.
Newly-released FBI data shows that the number of FBI background checks required for Americans buying guns set a record in December 2012.
The FBI said it recorded 2.8 million background checks during the month, surpassing the mark set in November of two million checks. The number was up 49 percent over December 2011, when the FBI performed a then-record 1.9 million checks.
The figures do not represent the number of firearms sold, a statistic the government does not track. They also do not reflect activity between private parties, such as family members or collectors, because federal law requires background checks only for sales from commercial vendors with a federal license.
Someone who passes a background check is eligible to buy multiple firearms.
U.S. President Barack Obama has committed to pushing new legislation, possibly including a proposed ban on some semi-automatic weapons, this year.