The design for the new Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which opened in 2016 on the site of a tragic school shooting, seeks to balance openness and security. | Town of Newtown

?Hardening? schools exacts a financial and psychological toll on students It?s back-to-school season in the United States, which means stocking up on school supplies and picking out new clothes. Among the offerings in stores are bulletproof backpacks?just one example of the ways in which worried students and parents are looking for safety solutions.
As the nation?s gun violence crisis continues, without any substantive federal legislative action to lessen shooting events, the everyday experience of going to school has evolved. The Washington Post estimates that more than 228,000 students have been exposed to gun violence during school hours since the 1999 Columbine High School attack. Metal detectors, gun-toting guards, and drills to protect against active shooters were once the vision of a dystopian future. Now they?re part of the routine for today?s students. Increasingly, those seeking a solution to these senseless acts have turned?without many other places to go?toward architecture, design, and the built environment. The first, and perhaps most famous example, was Sandy Hook, Connecticut. When the school district unveiled a new elementary school in 2016, revamped to be safer while still being welcoming and open to nature, it immediately became ?the most scrutinized sch...