I like to think there isn’t much that slips by me, especially when it’s something this painfully obvious. But as reader Brian Neal helpfully pointed out, I managed to miss a real whopper here.
Using Google Earth’s historical imagery—which I’ve referenced before to debunk claims about the school’s parking lot—we can spot numerous clear, irrefutable signs that Sandy Hook Elementary was open and fully operational. This shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s actually been paying attention and comparing the available evidence to the outlandish claims made by Sandy Hook conspiracy theorists, who continue to insist the school was closed in 2008, despite a total lack of supporting proof. What makes this case different is that the source—satellite imagery from Google—is much harder for these disingenuous deniers to dismiss. While they’ve written off evidence from local media like The Newtown Bee or The Newtown Patch due to their proximity to the school, what excuse will they concoct for these images? Will they accuse Google of being part of their imaginary hoax, further inflating their ever-growing list of conspirators? Will they claim the freely available satellite images were secretly “Photoshopped”? Or will they just ignore the evidence altogether in favor of inventing new lies?
First, let’s examine the satellite view of Sandy Hook School from August 2010 (note the date in the upper-left corner):

Now, compare that with this one, taken in March of 2012:

Ignoring the surrounding area beyond the school’s grounds, there are at least six notable differences between the two images. I’ve marked these below using the 2012 satellite photo as a reference:

Let’s take a closer look at each one:
#1: The addition of a new court area featuring basketball, four square, and hopscotch:

Located next to the expansion building, which housed most of the school’s fourth-grade classrooms, we can see this court up close in the crime scene photos (specifically in Gunsalus – exterior photos.pdf):

While the absurd ideas and baseless claims scattered throughout James Fetzer’s abysmal Nobody Died At Sandy Hook make very little sense and often contradict one another, the theory that the school was closed in 2008, used as storage, and then staged at a later date—approximately October of 2012, according to Nobody Died At Sandy Hook contributor Allan Powell—remains a constant. Given this context, the appearance of the basketball/four square/hopscotch court sometime between August 2010 and March 2012—seven months before the building was allegedly set up to resemble a functioning school—does not align neatly with their narrative.
#2: A bustling outdoor playground:

While the photo on the left—taken during the students’ summer vacation—shows a quiet, empty playground, the one on the right captures it full of children during a recess period. Obviously, it doesn’t make much sense for a group of children to be playing at an abandoned school, especially one that conspiracy theorists have claimed is dangerously infested with asbestos.
#3: Differing table configurations in the courtyard:

Here, we see that the tables in the courtyard area have been moved. While it would be odd enough for multiple tables to remain two years after the school allegedly closed, it would be infinitely more so if these tables were continually being rearranged four years later. Additionally, there appears to be another object in the small seating area—located in the lower right-hand side of the photo—that the school principal would use to read (as the “Book Fairy”) to students, as seen in this image taken from her Twitter feed:

#4: The addition of a shed and storage container:

Located behind the school, this shed and storage container can be seen on the far left of the following photo, taken from the same set of crime scene photos (Gunsalus – exterior photos.pdf) as the basketball court:

Why would a condemned school need a shed and storage container years after allegedly closing its doors for good? To store all of the extra asbestos that conspiracy theorists like Maria Hsia Chang falsely claim was flooding the building? Clearly, there’s a much simpler answer here: Sandy Hook was a regular, operational elementary school that simply needed more storage space—nothing more, nothing less.
#5: A revitalized field:

In the August 2010 photo, it’s glaringly obvious (you can even spot a yellow bulldozer at the bottom) that the school was in the process of revitalizing the large field on its east side. Why would they invest in redoing such a large area if the school had supposedly been closed and no one would see it for years? And why continue to spend money maintaining it after the fact? It makes absolutely no sense.
But we don’t even need to entertain such tall tales, as we know this area was frequently used by the school for various activities, including the 2012 Turkey Trot:

#6: Re-painted fire lanes:

In this photo from The Newtown Fund’s Depot Day 2011, taken on December 17th, we can see that the fire lanes had already been repainted by this time. This helps us pinpoint the work’s completion to sometime between August 2010 and December 2011—further confirmation of regular maintenance at a supposedly “abandoned” school:

As the lines do not appear in this photo, we know they must have been painted between December 17th, 2011, and March of 2012. If Sandy Hook conspiracy theorists were correct (and let’s be clear, they are most definitely not), then the school would have been closed for over three years before someone inexplicably decided to paint those fire zone lines. The idea is utterly absurd—a perfect example of how flimsy and full of holes the entire denialist narrative really is. Normally, work this sloppy would embarrass even the least experienced investigators, but this level of blatant deception has turned into a highly profitable, six-figure-a-year business for conspiracy theorists like Wolfgang Halbig, who seem desperate for attention, even if it means tormenting the community of Newtown for personal gain.
Again, a big “thank you” is in order to Brian Neal, who pointed these differences out to me elsewhere on the site. It’s honestly a bit embarrassing to have missed something so obvious, especially after reviewing these images multiple times, but hey, at least someone caught it.
For more in the “Sandy Hook Elementary Was Open” series, please read:
Part One: The Lobby
Part Two: The Obstinate Pen
Part Three: Holiday Decorations And Calendars
Part Four: SMART Technologies
Part Five: Dawn Hochsprung’s Twitter Feed
Part Six: The 2011-2012 Scrapbook
Part Seven: Children’s Authors Visit Sandy Hook
Part Eight: Charitable Causes
Part Nine: The Library
Part Ten: 92 More Photos From Sandy Hook School
Part Eleven: Over 195 Articles Referencing Sandy Hook School, Written Between 2008-2012
Part Twelve: The Glass Display Cases
Part Thirteen: Google Earth
Part Fourteen: The November 2012 Scholastic Book Fair
Part Fifteen: Sandy Hook School Enrollment For 2008-2017
Part Sixteen: School Documents From 2008-2012
a few months late ,but you are very welcome
there’s satellite photo proof that the courtyard was renovated in 2010
I never noticed the different table configurations before. The first or second thing I noticed were the newly painted lines throughout the parking lot and in front of the school. Brian is slipping, he’s sharp and I first encountered him about 01 2014. Compare google earth to the helicopter videos from that tragic day, why would there be recent crack sealing all over the parking lot if the school was closed? I looked in the Bee for photos from SHE and never found any. I knew some had to be there…Just like you know the words exist in a crossword puzzle. Finding them here is kind of annoying. I found out a long time ago that telling hoaxers to look on google earth for proof of the school being open was as hopeless as trying to teach a bird to fly backwards.
Forgot about this…if you look on google maps you can see school buses lined up in front of the Sandy Hook school. I tried to find the date the satellite photo was taken and there is a way to find the date because I googled it and it explained how…it was just a bit over my head cause I’m not current on tech stuff. Perhaps you could take a look and get back to me on the date the buses were in front of the school. Thanks.
I don’t believe I’ve seen the buses. Can you link the view you’re speaking of?
I first found the images on a u tube hoax video. I’ve looked but can’t find how to go back to view old google map satellite images, they’ve updated them and I tried to discover if old ones can be viewed but haven’t had any luck. There must be a way?
There’s a web site called HISTORIC AERIALS .COM , that shows that over half of the school was built after 1991,,, btw your site wouldn’t let me post the link
Thanks. Not sure why the URL was blocked. I was under the impression that I was allowing links from approved commenters. I’ll have to look into it.
Unsurprisingly, the aerial from 2012 shows a packed parking lot. I don’t believe that this is the same 2012 aerial photo available via Google Earth. That means that there are at least two aerial photos of the school taken in 2012, and both show a busy parking lot, which would awfully strange for a school that was allegedly closed two years earlier. But I’m sure some disingenuous goon will simply claim that the lot was staged in anticipation of these satellite photos being taken.
I believe both views are on the same day google was in the morning ,and the web site was in the afternoon , looking at the white vehicles in the google view , most match up with the white vehicles in the other view.
I think you’re right in regards to the day. The shadow on the historicaerials.com leads me to believe it was taken sometime around 11AM or so (using findmyshadow.com as a guide) while the Google satellite photo was taken closer to 3PM. This make sense as there are fewer cars in the lot in the Google photo, which would be activity consistent with an elementary school.
i see what you mean , i guess i shouldn’t analyze shadows when i’m tired . , I kinda got my directions mixed up.