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again,” he said.
    That same year, Nancy enrolled Adam in kindergarten, already well aware that she needed to be a champion for her son’s challenges. She had the school district draw up an individual education plan, or IEP, in accordance with the students with disabilities act, to address his antisocial behavior, and hoped they could tailor his school day to better suit his needs.
    When her husband, Peter, was named vice president of finances at General Electric soon after, the family decided to relocate to a small town in Connecticut called Newtown. Nancy Lanza saw the move as an opportunity for her struggling son to have a brighter and more stable future.
    The people who live there often say Newtown in the fall resembles a Norman Rockwell painting. Branches with yellow and red leaves drape the Victorian homes of this quaint New England hamlet, and at the crossroads of its main thoroughfares—Main Street, Church Hill Road, and West Street—stands a single pole bearing the American flag. Legend has it that every road in Fairfield County leads to the pole, which has stood in the middle of Main Street since 1876.
    Newtown is regarded as one of the safest towns in the country, so safe that families often leave their doors unlocked, but the town’smain attraction is the sterling reputation of its schools, especially that of Sandy Hook Elementary. Located at the end of Dickinson Drive, a one-way street off of Riverside Road, and surrounded by lush hemlock and evergreen trees, the school is renowned for its high academic standards, routinely exceeding the state scoring averages in reading, writing, and math. It had also earned a reputation as a progressive school that was well equipped to deal with special needs students, a strong selling point for Nancy.
    When the Lanzas arrived in 1998, they purchased a four-bedroom, three-bath Colonial for $405,900. A swing set with a small slide and a wooden fort was built for six-year-old Adam. In the backyard they had an in-ground swimming pool accompanied by a white wooden pool house on the 2.19-acre property. The young family couldn’t have been more pleased with their first year in their new home.
    “People are so nice here,” Nancy wrote to Marvin, back in New Hampshire. “I feel very lucky to have found a place where there is such a feeling of community. It is beautiful here, and there is SO much to do and see.”
    Nancy loved the new house, and had plans to convert the basement into a room for her sons. “The game room is for the boys . . . it will actually be two rooms and a bathroom. In addition, I will have laundry room, exercise room for myself and perhaps a small shop area for my newest hobby (refurnishing antiques). There will also be a storage area that will not be finished off,” Nancy emailed Marvin. “The boys are very excited about having a game room.”
    Another upside to the move was the “mild Connecticut winters,” which were an improvement over winters in New Hampshire.At first, Adam seemed to be adjusting well to the move. He excelled academically in every course. He was involved in other activities, too, including music, and especially drama. In emails to a friend during their first spring in Newtown, Nancy wrote glowingly of young Adam’s blossoming affinity for the stage.
    “Adam started in his theater group last week and enjoys it,” she said in an email dated April 12, 1999. “It has been so cute to watch them rehearse. Adam has taken it very seriously, even practicing facial expressions in the mirror!
    “Adam’s first play went well . . . his second one is this afternoon with a second showing this evening. Watch out Broadway!!! The first one was a Charlie Brown play . . . today’s is a smaller version of Oklahoma!”
    Nancy was adjusting to her new surroundings as well. She had joined a local bunko group, where several of her neighbors rotated houses to play the popular dice game. She had also become a familiar face at Adam’s