'What happened changed us all': Sandy Hook students head to class for first time since bloody massacre

'What happened changed us all': Sandy Hook students head to class for first time since bloody massacre

Pete Souza/The White House

The President reacts as John Brennan briefs him on the details of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The President later said during a TV interview that this was the worst day of his Presidency.

With heavy hearts and even heavier security, the surviving students of Sandy Hook Elementary School trooped back to class Thursday â€" in a different building and town.

Anxious parents loaded hundreds of kids onto buses for the trip to nearby Monroe, Conn., just three weeks after the terrified students fled a mass murderer who gunned down 20 of their classmates and six staffers.

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The return trip was simultaneously routine and surreal.

“In a way, it’s like any other first day of school,” said Andre Nikitchyuk, whose 8-year-old son Bear survived the carnage in Newtown.

“You get your backpack and breakfast and get ready. In another way, it’s different. What happened changed us all. It’s very emotional.”

To make the transition easier, the students arrived at the former Chalk Hill Middle School to discover their desks, backpacks and other personal items were relocated to their replacement home.

But nothing was really the same â€" and likely would not be for a long time.

“As a mom, I feel very weary,” said Satra Arokium, 37, mother of second-grader Cyrena. “It feels safe with the police presence. But then again, I thought the same of the other school.”

Cyrena “is still having her moments,” said Arokium. “Sometimes she will just start to cry. Normal is not a word that will ever be part of our vocabulary.”

The mother of kindergartner Page Carbon, 5, said her little girl was plagued by nightmares about snakes and coyotes.

“Unfortunately, she heard more about it than I wish she did,” said her mom, Sarah â€" who also has a 7-year-old son in the school.

Several homemade signs were posted along the school bus route. “You are in our prayers,” read one, while someone else created roadside silhouettes of 26 angels.

Others hung green and white balloons and ribbons â€" the Sandy Hook school colors. Their new school was flanked by armed law enforcement officers when classes resumed at 9:07 a.m.

“I think right now it has to be the safest school in America,” said Monroe police Lt. Keith White.

Both Nikitchyuk and Arokium said their kids were eager to get back to school after the tragedy and subsequent trauma.

“She’s excited for today,” said Arokium. “Kids want to go back to school, and she wants to see her friends and teachers.”

The last time they were together, their quiet morning was interrupted by the pop-pop-pop of gunfire and screaming sirens on Dec. 14.

While the students arrived on yellow school buses, many parents drove to the school to attend a Q&A session with school board members and local police.