Victoria Soto Way in Stratford Honors Newtown Teacher

What started as a spirited online petition is now a reality.

Victoria Soto Way now honors the first-grade Newtown teacher from Stratford who was killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting on Dec. 14, 2012.

The memorial road runs alongside North Parade Street in front of Stratford High School, where Soto graduated in 2003. The sign was put up around New Year’s.

The campaign to remember Soto in this way started with an online petition on change.org by fellow Stratford High School alumnus Chris Barbee.

The petition had the backing of thousands of signatures – people from across the country as well as Soto’s hometown – when the proposal was placed on a Stratford Town Council agenda in May.

Supporters on the online forum gave their reasons for signing. Included in that group was Soto’s mother.

“Because my daughter is Victoria Soto and she gave her life to save her ‘kids’ and because education and teaching was her passion,” Donna Soto wrote.

“Most of my family including my parents her grandparents attended SHS she has a brother in that school at present. She deserves this recognition.”

The Town Council approved the memorial road designation by a unanimous vote.

Victoria Soto Way will "coexist side by side" with North Parade Street, Councilman Jason Santi had said. It's not a complete renaming and both addresses will work for mail, he said.

Santi said he was honored to vote for it. And Barbee celebrated the decision on the petition’s page.

"Remembering and honoring all the victims of this tragedy is a great endeavor," he wrote. “We here, in Stratford, CT, have made a move to remember one of our own. Thank you again.”

It's unclear if a ceremony is planned for an official unveiling.

Related: How Stratford Honored a Sandy Hook Hero