ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:
Nearly 3 1/2 years after the deadliest school shooting in Texas, a school to replace Robb Elementary is opening in the Town of Uvalde. It's called Legacy Elementary, and Texas Public Radio's Camille Phillips went to the school's opening ceremony.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: (Singing in non-English language).
CAMILLE PHILLIPS, BYLINE: These junior high mariachi performers were students at Robb Elementary in 2022, when a gunman entered their school and shot their teachers and classmates. Now, standing in the library of Uvalde's new school, they sing about thanking God for being able to see the sun through the window for another day.
Legacy Elementary is bright, colorful and full of windows that let in the sun. Behind the students is a wall of windows showcasing a two-story steel tree. It has two big branches and 19 smaller branches, representing the two teachers and 19 students who died in the shooting. After the ceremony, Javier Cazares stands in the courtyard on the other side of the windows and brushes away tears while looking up at the tree.
JAVIER CAZARES: There was a little girl in a dress, and it just reminded me of my daughter, so I got emotional.
PHILLIPS: His 9-year-old daughter, Jackie, died in the shooting. Cazares says, seeing the new school is bittersweet.
CAZARES: It is a great school, you know, for these children. You know, sadly, you know, it takes the lives of our children to make this school.
PHILLIPS: He says he's happy kids are going to enjoy Legacy Elementary for generations. He just wishes Jackie could have been there. The new school was built to keep kids like Jackie safe.
TIM MILLER: Let's walk through here to the third-grade wing.
PHILLIPS: During a tour of the school, Tim Miller points out security features, including bullet-resistant windows.
MILLER: This would be an example of a access point where, if we didn't have a badge, this door would not open.
PHILLIPS: Miller is executive director of the foundation that raised $60 million to pay for the school's construction.
MILLER: You'll see cameras throughout the building. There are door prop alarms. So if an exterior door is left open for a little bit of time, the alarm will be sounded.
PHILLIPS: Door security is a priority. Three years ago, the shooter entered Robb Elementary through a side door that did not lock automatically the way it should have. Multiple state and federal investigations found that nearly 400 law enforcement officers waited more than an hour to confront the gunman.
LAURA PEREZ: I work in the operating room. That's where we had deceased children.
PHILLIPS: Uvalde School Board President Laura Perez is a nurse at the local hospital.
PEREZ: The survivors - when I hear those children speak, I think, you know, what they saw, what they smelt, what they heard - I mean, that's forever.
PHILLIPS: She says her hope is that the new school is a new beginning for the students.
PEREZ: We owe it to Irma, to Eva, to the 19 children, right? This is here because of them. So build beautiful memories, tell the stories. And can't wait to hear the laughter in the hallways.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: (Laughter) Yo.
PHILLIPS: Outside on the playground, the junior high students who survived the shooting are helping break in the swings and merry-go-rounds, letting laughter and chatter fill the space for the first time. Like the song they played during the ceremony, all they and their town can do is keep trying to make today better than the day before.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: (Singing in non-English language).
PHILLIPS: For NPR News, I'm Camille Phillips in Uvalde. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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