Newtown , Connecticut ( CNN ) -- The return to school after the summer break is an annual milestone in every child 's life . But as the school buses pulled up to take more than 5,000 children back to class in Newtown , Connecticut , Tuesday , it was far from an ordinary day . The returning students were greeted not only by their teachers but also the presence of more armed guards -- and with them a solemn reminder of the tragedy that struck their town last year . Mark and Jackie Barden are among those for whom the back-to-school ritual will be hardest . While their children Natalie , 11 , and James , 13 , are returning to class as they have each year , their youngest child , 7-year-old Daniel , is not . He was one of 20 young children killed during the horrific shooting spree inside Newtown 's Sandy Hook Elementary School last December . Six teachers were also killed by Adam Lanza , 20 , who then took his own life . `` This will be our first time back to school without Daniel , '' said his father , Mark . The family 's pain is still raw -- and it 's hard not to imagine how it would have been to see their boy going off to second grade . `` It 's still day to day , and we have better days than others , '' his mother said . Sandy Hook Elementary is being torn down and its students will head Tuesday to Chalk Hill Elementary instead , the site to which they moved when classes resumed in January . The heightened security they will find there will be replicated in schools across the district . Opinion : Does your child 's school have a security plan ? Armed security . The school board is doing everything it can to put families at ease in the wake of last year 's shooting and the recent gun scare in Georgia . Steps taken include better locks on doors , real-time monitoring systems and more armed guards at every school . `` 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 , '' said Debbie Leidlein , who chairs the education board . `` Parents will definitely see armed security at each school and there will be additional guards at multiple schools . '' The number of guards present will depend on the size of the school and number of students , she added . More safety measures are expected to be put in place in Newtown schools over the course of the school year , but officials did not go into detail . It 's not just Newtown where the security of children and their educators is at the forefront of people 's minds . School districts across the country are adding more security guards , particularly to their elementary schools . At least three states have also passed laws recently allowing teachers to be able to carry handguns on campus . For the Bardens , the daily struggle to carry on family life without Daniel continues . What they 'd like to see are positive changes in the way people act , such as showing more kindness to others , to try to prevent others suffering a similar loss . `` We have to try to do the good work that he was supposed to do here , '' said Mark . `` We 're gon na try our best to do it for him . '' Newtown residents find their voice .
Students in Newtown , Connecticut , return to school amid heightened security . `` This will be our first time back to school without Daniel , '' say parents of slain student . School board says it is bringing in more guards , better locks on doors . `` Parents will definitely see armed security at each school , '' says education board chair .