MONROE, CT (CNN) -- The students of Sandy Hook elementary return to school this morning. But it won't be the one they remember. The children are headed to another school in the nearby town of Monroe. And folks there are doing all they can to make the kids feel at home.
The streets of Monroe lined with signs for sandy hook as survivors of the tragic Newtown shooting toured their new school home, a school once known as Monroe's Chalk Hill Middle School. Newtown School superintendent Janet Robinson says, "It has been renamed Sandy Hook School."
And for the past two weeks, painstaking preparations were made to create a refuge for children who've experienced something no one should ever live through. Robinson says, "At one point there were 80 people in the building, cleaning up the building and doing those kinds of things. Painting to make it look cheerful and happy."
Students and their parents attended a private open house to see how the former middle school was transformed with a little hard work and a lot of love. Robinson says, "There are snowflakes from around the world there. There are many snowflakes and they're beautiful."
First selectman Steve Vavrek says, "The children that I have seen have been tremendous. They just wanted their backpacks back, they just wanted their water bottles back. They wanted to see their teachers, they've seen their teachers and they just want what we all want normalcy."
Classes resume on Thursday. Robinson says, "We will go to our regular schedule and do the kinds of things that we know are good for kids."
Security is now on so many minds now here. Monroe and Newtown police briefed reporters on steps to keep the students of sandy hook secure. Lt. Keith White with the Monroe Police Dept. says, "I think right now this has to be the safest school in America. We have many different options in place, most Monroe schools were already monitored at the police department with cameras. We've also installed many security devices at this school and we are going to remain until further notice."