WASHINGTON – After months of being too scared to leave their homes to go to school, more than 500 children this week returned to in-person classes at Columbia Heights Public Schools, a huge moment of celebration and pride for school leaders in this Minneapolis-area suburb once swarming with federal immigration enforcement agents.

The school district’s fourth quarter kicked off on Tuesday, and high school staff lined the hallway entry to their building as students walked in through a “Safe Passage” bunny bridge decorated with origami bunnies sent from supporters nationwide, a symbol of care and solidarity. At the middle school, students were greeted with a gold carpet and a balloon arch. Some students just walked in and hugged the teachers they hadn’t seen since January.

“Columbia Heights Public Schools are once again filled with energy, connection and renewed focus on learning,” the school said in a Friday statement. “Hallways were filled with smiles, hugs and reunions, reflecting the resilience of the Columbia Heights community.”

This school district was, for months, a prime target of the Trump administration’s surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers into Minnesota. ICE officers patrolled this heavily Latino community on a daily basis, circling the schools, taunting school staff, traumatizing immigrant families and dragging people of color out of their cars, often leaving behind empty and still-running cars on the streets.

School officials strongly pushed back against ICE’s presence, speaking out publicly and helping to organize food deliveries to immigrant families and volunteer shifts of community members willing to watch for federal agents near the schools. This almost certainly contributed to federal immigration enforcement agents continuing to harass them.

At least half a dozen kids who go to school here were detained and shipped off to a horrific Texas detention center with their families. Liam Ramos, the 5-year-old with the Spider-Man backpack whose image went viral as he was detained, was among them. His family is currently facing potential deportation.

After launching its so-called Operation Metro Surge in December, the Trump administration announced in mid-February it was winding down its operations, having drawn widespread condemnation after federal agents fatally shot two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. It gradually pulled out most of its ICE officers by early March.

In an effort to support immigrant families in the community, Columbia Heights Public Schools began offering virtual classes in December to students who felt more comfortable learning from home. More than 500 students opted to go this route.

All of those students are now back at school, including those who were previously detained in Texas with their families, said Kristen Stuenkel, a spokesperson for the school district.

“We are glad that the thick presence of ICE is no longer a factor for our community,” Stuenkel told HuffPost.

People in the community are still on edge, understandably.

“One of our Latino staff described it this way to me: ‘There are just tense moments rather than constant tension,’” she said.

The school district has been hurt in other ways. It’s lost more than 100 students to moving or unenrolling. Some immigrant families and staff members who are going to their asylum hearings are now being denied. Many in this situation are requesting that judges allow them to stay in the community until the end of the school year, Stuenkel said.

“We continue to experience strong support from our community with a very robust feeling of mutuality of regard and appreciation between the community and schools,” she said. “There is real community spirit that we hope sees us through the coming twists and turns ahead.”