--- title: A Safer Sandy Hook School description: Almost four years after a gunman killed 20 students and six educators on Dec. 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., has reopened.... canonical: https://time.com/4475638/a-safer-sandy-hook-school/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-12T10:19:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:20:38.372Z article:section: U.S. og:title: A Safer Sandy Hook School og:description: Almost four years after a gunman killed 20 students and six educators on Dec. 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., has reopened.... og:url: https://time.com/4475638/a-safer-sandy-hook-school/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Safer Sandy Hook School twitter:description: Almost four years after a gunman killed 20 students and six educators on Dec. 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., has reopened.... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # A Safer Sandy Hook School  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Sep 12, 2016 10:19 AM CUT  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Sep 12, 2016 10:19 AM CUT Almost four years after a gunman killed 20 students and six educators on Dec. 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., has reopened. The new building, said superintendent Joseph Erardi Jr. in July, has a “warm and calming environment”–but also security that is “second to none.” Architect Barry Svigals says his firm bridged that gap by designing several key elements. Among them: classroom doors that look like wood but are actually stainless steel; bright, open areas that can be sealed off from classroom wings; and impact-resistant windows that offer views of nature and of anyone who’s approaching the school. For more on these stories, visit time.com/ideas –Julia Zorthian ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4475638/a-safer-sandy-hook-school/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4475638/a-safer-sandy-hook-school/"},"headline":"A Safer Sandy Hook School","datePublished":"2016-09-12T10:19:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:20:38.372Z","description":"Almost four years after a gunman killed 20 students and six educators on Dec. 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., has reopened....","url":"https://time.com/4475638/a-safer-sandy-hook-school/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4475638/a-safer-sandy-hook-school/","name":"A Safer Sandy Hook School"}}]}] ```