Memorial for Sandy Hook victims, (Creative Commons/US Embassy Canada)

Just five months after the tragedy, Newton residents made the decision to tear down the school and build a new one in its place in order to help families who have lost loved ones and other community members to really move on. 

Earlier this month, in a 4,504 to 558 vote, Newtown residents accepted a $50 million grant from the state of Connecticut to replace the elementary school. 

This week giant machines and construction crews began taking the steps to implement this decision, as they started work on the school’s demolition. 

As this week’s two school-related tragedies have reminded us, as any time kids are involved in acts of violence makes tragedies even more complicated and difficult to forget. 

To prevent any unwelcome reminders of the tragedy from lingering, building materials are to be pulverized on sire and metals are to be melted down immediately. 

"We want to be absolutely certain to do everything we can to protect the privacy of the families and the Sandy Hook community," Newtown First Selectman E. Patricia Llodra told SeattlePi. "We're going to every possible length to eliminate any possibility that any artifacts from the building would be taken from the campus and ... end up on eBay."

The school is hoping to have the demolition completed by Dec. 14, the first anniversary of the shooting, and the new school open by December 2016. 

Contact Executive Producer Sara Newman here. Tweet her here.