WORCESTER, Mass. - Monday morning was the first time in a long time North High School's hallways have been bustling. 

"It's school. It feels like a school finally," said North principal Lisa Houlihan.

High schools across Worcester welcomed students back to the classroom five days a week. Something Houlihan has wanted since the start of the school year. 

"I wasn't sure which way we were going, but I just kept telling my staff, people are coming back five days a week. Let's get ready," said Houlihan. 

Out of their 1,181 students, around 500 of them have chosen to go back to full-time. It's a number Houlihan would have liked to see much higher. 

"I would of loved everyone to be back, but it's better than nothing," Houlihan said. "Kids need to be back at school. They need to be around us. We need to be around them. It was really really getting tiring."

It was a big day for freshmen. Monday was their first time in the building. They've only met teachers through a  computer screen.

"That is super important to get them into school and meeting us, walking around the building just putting names to faces," said Houlihan. 

For seniors, they have just two weeks of school left. But after more than a year remote, a return to face-to-face learning was just what teachers and students needed.

"You're not talking to a screen. You're talking to live people. so it is such a difference," Houlihan said. "There is an energy that wasn't there when you're talking to a screen."

The rest of the school year is going to be busy as teachers try to make up for lost time.

"We have a lot of kids in the building. We have a lot of activity, hustle and bustle," Houlihan said. "We have a lot to jam into 30 days."