In the end, "we felt like our main way to survive and move forward would be to find the ability to be back in this space," she said. "We spent a whole lot of, you know, not just time and money, but real energy in figuring out how to do that."

Translucent plastic panels in muted rainbow colors now hang from the ceiling of a hallway leading to a giant painting in similar colors. The canvas has been covered by the school's children and staff with overlapping layers of words and pictures that they associate with the three small children and three adults killed in the building. They include Bible passages, drawings of cats, even the words "hot dog" for a favorite meal. The painting is one of the few visual reminders of the shooting -- a way to try to honor the people they lost without triggering traumatic memories.