Newtown Elementary Students Begin First School Year After Shooting

Students in Newtown, Conn. are returning for their first school year following the gruesome massacre last December, CNN reported.

Although teachers were warmly welcoming the students back, an increase in armed guards was noticeably present at the school, amping up security for the children and staff, but also acting as a painful reminder of the tragedy that took 26 lives just eight months ago.

For Sandy Hook parents Mark and Jackie Barden, sending their children off to school this year has been the hardest yet. Barden's children Natalie, 11, and James, 13, will be returning to school without their 7-year-old brother who was killed in last year's massacre.

"This will be our first time back to school without Daniel," Mark Barden said, referring to his late child.

"It's still day to day, and we have better days than others," said Jackie Barden.

On December 14, 2012, 20 students and six teachers were shot and killed by Adam Lanza in the second deadliest mass shooting in American history. As a result, security has been modified across school districts in the area.

Elementary-aged students will attend Chalk Hill Elementary on Tuesday, where classes were resumed in January, instead of Sandy Hook Elementary which will be torn down. Given the recent shooting scare in Georgia and last year's massacre, school administrators are doing everything possible to put the worries of frightened parents and children at ease.

"Parents will definitely see armed security at each school and there will be additional guards at multiple schools," said Debbie Leidlein, who chairs the education board. "It's not a normal back-to-school but we're trying to put the resources in place to make it as normal as possible."

According to Leidlein, the number of guards depends on the number of students and overall size of the school. Although administrators did not provide further detail, more security measures are likely to go into place throughout the school year.