Hundreds of grade schoolers and their families are taking a huge step forward in Newtown, Connecticut, Thursday morning.

For the first time since the deadly shootings of December 14, children from Sandy Hook Elementary are returning to class.

That school building is still being treated as a crime scene so the children will have class in a former middle school in the nearby town of Monroe. Their desks and belongings have been relocated there.

Officials say security has been increased at the new school with more cameras and locks. 

Last month, Adam Lanza fatally shot his mother before going to Sandy Hook Elementary, killing 20 students and six adults before shooting himself in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.