The new school year began in Iraq this weekend with an increasing number of families coming back to the cities and allowing their youngsters to make the daily trek to the classroom.

"I am still fearful of the situation," a woman who recently returned from safe haven in Egypt told The New York Times. "I have taken a gamble with my return to Iraq."

The Times said Sunday that many returning families steer clear of their old mixed Shiite-Sunni neighborhoods and stick to areas where their own religion predominates.

The situation, nevertheless, sits well with U.S. military commanders. School attendance is seen as a critical step toward normalizing Iraq, and the United States has spent millions of dollars rebuilding and improving school buildings.