Sandy Hook Elementary School students will return to school Thursday for the first time since Adam Lanza's horrific Dec. 14 shooting rampage left 20 of their classmates and six adults dead. But they won't have to face the scene of the carnage in Newtown, Conn.
Instead, school officials have been preparing another building in the nearby town of Monroe, reports NBC Connecticut.
They've renovated classrooms at the former Chalk Hill Middle School to look almost identical to the classrooms at Sandy Hook, which remains closed as a crime scene.
A walk-through was scheduled for Wednesday, so students and their families could get a look at the new space.
"Be assured that the towns of Monroe and Newtown are working night and day to ensure the facility is safe, secure and fully operational for our return," wrote interim principal Donna Page on the school's website. She takes over for principal Dawn Hochsprung. who was killed in the massacre.
