text: After three long and challenging weeks, Sandy Hook Elementary students returned to class Thursday at a nearby middle school in Monroe, Conn., where they will remain until their old school is no longer designated a crime scene. NBC's Rehema Ellis reports. 
   
   The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School returned to class Thursday, filling buses that took them to a new building where they were thrilled to reconnect with their friends and teachers after three weeks of mourning. 
   
   “Most of the kids were excited,” said Monroe, Conn., Police Lt. Keith White. 
   
   “They were anxious to get into the hallways and meet up with the other kids, and you could see the teachers had the same response.” 
   
   The 400-plus students had not been back to school since Adam Lanza blasted his way into Sandy Hook and killed 20 first-graders, six staffers and himself with a semi-automatic rifle. 
   
   Their old school in Newtown is still a crime scene, so an unused middle school in nearby Monroe was refurnished for them. 
   
   Teachers tried to make the new surroundings as familiar as possible. Their old desks were brought in, along with backpacks, coats, and lunch boxes that were left behind as they fled on Dec. 14. 
   
   Even the new principal was a known face: Donna Page, who retired from the role at Sandy Hook in 2010, agreed to come back after her successor, Dawn Hochsprung, was killed in the rampage. 
   
   Yet there were also reminders of how much the Sandy Hook community has changed since the shooting rocked the nation and stirred debate on gun control. 
   
   Monroe Police Dept. / AP This photo provided by the Monroe Police Department shows the new Sandy Hook Elementary School on the first day of classes in Monroe, Conn. The school, formerly known as Chalk Hill School, was overhauled especially for the students from Sandy Hook 
   
   Police officers and counselors were on hand. Parents were allowed to stay in the building for the day. And children cuddled with therapy dogs. 
   
   He said attendance was robust, with most school buses full as they rumbled down streets that had been decorated with balloons and welcome signs. 
   
   Andrew Paley said he waited for the bus with his 9-year-old twins at the bottom of his driveway Thursday morning. 
   
   “They just ran on. They didn’t even look back,” he said. “There was probably some anxiety but it was more excitement. They both love school, so they loved going back.’ 
   
   PhotoBlog: See images of Sandy Hook students returning to class for first day 
   
   While security was very visible, it will become more low-key as the weeks pass in an effort to restore some normalcy. 
   
   “We don’t want them to think this is a police state,” White said. “We want them to know that this is a school and a school first, and that’s a place that they are to come to learn, enjoy their friends and grow up. 
   
   “We want to move on and let the kids move on, too.” 
   
   Lt. Keith White says Sandy Hook students were excited to see friends as they returned to school on Thursday for the first time since the Dec. 14 massacre in Newtown, Conn. 
   
   Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said it took a “Herculean effort” to prepare the school in Monroe for the Sandy Hook kids. 
   
   He also announced a commission that will spearhead legislative and policy reforms designed to ensure no other children have to endure the horror they survived. 
   
   “We don’t yet know the underlying cause behind this tragedy, and we probably never will,” he said, referring the mystery of Lanza’s motive for attacking the school. “But that cannot be an excuse for inaction.” 
   
   He said the 15-member commission would look at three areas -- school security, mental health services, and gun laws. 
   
   “If 30-round clips had continued to be illegal in the nation or in our state, the availability of that clip to this particular perpetrator may not have existed,” Malloy said. 
   
   “These things aren’t used to hunt deer. You don’t need a 30-round clip to go hunting ... to honor the Constitution of the United States.” 
   
   The panel, which will issue recommendations in March, will be headed by Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson, who said the issues resonated with him personally. 
   
   “This is an issue that touches us all,” Jackson said. “My son is in first grade.” 
   
   NBC News' Joo Lee contributed to this report. 
   
   Shannon Stapleton / Reuters Children from Sandy Hook Elementary School make their way to their new school in Monroe Conn. As they leave Newtown on Jan. 3. 
   
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   Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook ||||| Sandy Hook students and teachers will be reunited in the classroom on Thursday, but today they have a chance to tour their new school in Monroe. 
   
   Sandy Hook Elementary School students returned to classes Thursday in Monroe. 
   
   Students, teachers and staff are "going back to business as usual," said Monroe Police Lt. Keith White Thursday. 
   
   Students were excited as they entered their new school building and reunited with friends as classes got back together, White said. 
   
   Attendance was very good Thursday, the first day classes resumed after 20 students and six women were killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14, White said. 
   
   Most students arrived by bus, White said. Parents were invited into the school as Sandy Hook principal Donna Page, Newtown School Superintendent Janet Robinson and members of the Newtown board of education greeted students and parents, White said. 
   
   Parents met with school officials and law enforcement members as students resumed a regular school day, White said. 
   
   Once a middle school, the former Chalk Hill School in Monroe has been given a makeover and renamed. It is now Sandy Hook Elementary School — a nod to its new occupants who began classes in the building Thursday. 
   
   Newtown's neighbor, Monroe, offered use of the former Chalk Hill School, which was closed almost two years ago. 
   
   The new Sandy Hook school is about 7 miles south of the old school. 
   
   White reported buses arrived on time Thursday and there were no major issues.White reported buses arrived on time Thursday and there were no major issues. ||||| Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com ||||| The Newtown schools superintendent says preparations have been made for a "normal" day, yet it will likely be anything but that when classes resume for Sandy Hook Elementary School students for the first time since a gunman killed 20 of their classmates. 
   
   Chalk Hill School is seen in Monroe, Conn., Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. The Sandy Hook Elementary School students fron Newtown, Conn., will begin classes on Thursday at Chalk Hill School. The school was... (Associated Press) 
   
   A man waves to a child on a bus on the first day of classes after the holiday break, in Newtown, Conn.,Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. School resumes Wednesday for students in Newtown, except for the Sandy Hook... (Associated Press) 
   
   Children board a bus on the first day of classes after the holiday break, in Newtown, Conn., Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. Nearly three weeks after the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown,... (Associated Press) 
   
   A police officer greets a bus at the entrance to a school on the first day of classes after the holiday break, in Newtown, Conn., Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. Nearly three weeks after the shooting rampage... (Associated Press) 
   
   This December 2012 photo provided by The Newtown Bee shows a sign welcoming Sandy Hook Elementary School students, of Newtown, Conn., to the Chalk Hill School campus in neighboring Monroe, Conn. An open... (Associated Press) 
   
   A woman hugs a child before he boards a bus on the first day of classes after the holiday break, in Newtown, Conn., Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. Children from Sandy Hook Elementary School will return to... (Associated Press) 
   
   A green and white ribbon, the school colors of Sandy Hook Elementary School is seen attached to a bus on the first day of school after the holiday break, in Newtown, Conn., Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. Nearly... (Associated Press) 
   
   Greg Gnandt, left, and Guy Veneruso work on the installation of 26 stars on the roof of the Sandy Hook fire station Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, in Newtown, Conn. The stars were made and installed by a group... (Associated Press) 
   
   This December 2012 photo provided by The Newtown Bee shows the Chalk Hill School building in Monroe, Conn. An open house was planned for the Sandy Hook Elementary School students, of neighboring Newtown,... (Associated Press) 
   
   A sign for Chalk Hill School is seen in Monroe, Conn., Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. School resumes Wednesday for students in Newtown, Conn., except for the Sandy Hook Elementary School students, who will... (Associated Press) 
   
   With their original school still being treated as a crime scene, the students will begin attending classes at a refurbished school in the neighboring town of Monroe on Thursday. Law enforcement officers have been guarding the new school, and by the reckoning of police, it is "the safest school in America." 
   
   Still, Newtown Superintendent Janet Robinson said officials will do their best to make the students feel at ease. 
   
   "We will go to our regular schedule," she said. "We will be doing a normal day." 
   
   On Wednesday, the students and their families were welcomed at an open house at their new school, which was formerly the Chalk Hill Middle School in Monroe but renamed as the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Students received gift boxes with toys inside and shared joyful reunions with teachers. 
   
   One father, Vinny Alvarez, took a moment to thank his third-grade daughter's teacher, Courtney Martin, who protected the class from a rampaging gunman by locking her classroom door and keeping the children in a corner. 
   
   "Everybody there thanked her in their own way," he said. 
   
   The gunman, Adam Lanza, also killed his mother at the home they shared in Newtown before driving to the school, where he slaughtered 20 children and six educators, including the school's principal. Lanza fatally shot himself as police arrived. Police haven't released any details about a motive. 
   
   Numerous police officers on Wednesday guarded the outside of the Monroe school, which is about 7 miles from the old school, and told reporters to stay away. 
   
   "I think right now it has to be the safest school in America," Monroe police Lt. Keith White said. 
   
   Teachers attended staff meetings at the new school on Wednesday morning and were visited by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy before the open house, White said. 
   
   Robinson said Chalk Hill School has been transformed into a "cheerful" place for the surviving students to resume normal school routines. She said mental health counselors continue to be available for anyone who needs them. 
   
   During the open house, Alvarez said his 8-year-old daughter also got to pick out a stuffed animal to take home from the school library. 
   
   "I'm not worried about her going back," he said of his daughter Cynthia. "The fear kind of kicks back in a little bit, but we're very excited for her and we got to see many, many kids today. The atmosphere was very cheerful." 
   
   Several signs welcoming the Sandy Hook students to their new school were posted along the road leading to the school in a rural, mostly residential neighborhood. One said "Welcome Sandy Hook Elementary Kids," while a similar sign added "You are in our prayers." 
   
   Teams of workers, many of them volunteers, prepared the Chalk Hill school with fresh paint and new furniture and even raised bathroom floors so the smaller elementary school students can reach the toilets. The students' desks, backpacks and other belongings that were left behind following the shooting were taken to the new school to make them feel at home. 
   
   ___ 
   
   Eaton-Robb reported from Hartford, Conn.
target: – It's the first day back at Sandy Hook Elementary for survivors of last month's shooting—and its new campus, guarded by law enforcement, is "the safest school in America," police tell the AP. Police are checking every car that enters campus, and there are unspecified "security devices" on site, NBC News reports. Still, Superintendent Janet Robinson is trying to make today as "normal" as possible, and says the students will follow their regular schedule. Much work was done on the new school, a former middle school in a neighboring town, to make the students feel at home. Chalk Hill Middle School was renamed Sandy Hook Elementary School; bathroom floors were raised so its new, younger inhabitants can reach the toilets; and some of the familiar furniture from the old school was brought in, the Hartford Courant notes. That includes their old desks and other items to make the classrooms look the same as the ones students are used to; backpacks, lunchboxes, coats, and other belongings left at the old school were also waiting for students at the new one. Signs welcoming the students were posted along the road leading to the school, and the halls were decorated with snowflakes sent from all over the world and other "cheerful" decor. Former Sandy Hook principal Donna Page, who retired in 2010, returned; her successor, Dawn Hochsprung, died in the shooting. "The main thing it means ... is that they are getting back to their normal structures and routines," a psychiatrist who counseled survivors tells the Wall Street Journal. It's "the right time for them to essentially to step back on the path." Counselors are on hand at the new school for anyone who needs them.