The K-8 students who return to Elias Brookings School next week will sit in portable classrooms constructed on the playground until the school can be fixed.

WSJ: Springfield, Mass., Faces Hurricane After Tornado

About 14 years ago, when I was a parent of young children, as preparation for a talk at a doctors' meeting about vaccines, I surveyed (rather informally) parents - mostly mothers of course - waiting in the playground of our local primary school.

BBC: 'The natural benefits of vaccines'

Kyle Rees, 16, a student at Portchester School, Bournemouth, was struck on the head in the playground on 28 February.

BBC: School memorial for cricket ball death boy Kyle Rees

The other day, I was explaining to my third graders that we were going to practice a lockdown just in case a bear happened to be on the playground -- a real scenario for our Colorado school.

CNN: Columbine survivor: No child should worry about gunmen

"It really makes a big difference when the kids walk into a building that looks like it's well taken care of, " says Ann Shorey, principal of the Louisa May Alcott Elementary School, where a new playground, roof and windows have been put in.

FORBES: Chain Saw Paul