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Notebooks, pens and bulletproof backpacks: A new school year in America

By Eli Saslow
New York Times·
19 mins to read

Eight years ago, Brenda Valenzuela survived a mass shooting. Now she must send her own children to school.

It was the beginning of another school year in America, and Brenda Valenzuela, 37, called her children into the living room to make sure they were prepared. Bella, 15, arrived with a stack of notebooks alphabetised by subject, pencils sorted by colour and a binder that read: “High school — magical years!” Caleb, 11, came in wearing one sneaker, dragging a bag

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