OP-ED: A New York principal’s account of 9/11
She navigated students to safety, plus other thoughts on the national repercussions from the terrorist attacks
The Twin Towers: Buildings struck during the 9/11 attacks. Photo from Unsplash.
Sept. 8, 2026
By Ellen Foote
On Sept. 11, 2001, as principal of a middle school three blocks north of the World Trade Towers, I was walking the hallways to ensure that teachers and students were settled in
It was less than 20 minutes into the morning of the third day of school. At about 8:50 a.m., one teacher called out to me as he ran into the hallway, then, ashen-faced, said that he had just looked south out of his window and saw smoke rising from one of the towers—his brother worked on one of the top floors of that building.
Without any clear understanding of the situation, but seeing how distracted the students in the classrooms on the south and east sides were, teachers began moving their students out of the rooms and down two flights to the auditorium.
Having lived in Beirut in the early 80s, I was pretty good at reading danger signals and knowing from whom to get the most reliable information. I had also acquired some life-saving evacuation skills. Our head custodian found me and said he had to shut down all of the HVAC systems because of the smoke. He also advised that we all leave the building as soon as possible. The other administrator in the building said that she was sure that the Department of Education would recognize our situation and would send buses to take us all to safety.
Hearing the sirens of emergency vehicles speeding by the school, I said we couldn’t wait. My students took the hands of the younger children in the elementary school with whom we shared the building, and we began to walk up the West Side Highway, trying at first to sing silly camp songs to lighten the mood.
After about a half hour of walking, we were overtaken by what looked like an army of the living dead: scores of men and women in business attire, silent, ghost-like, completely covered in gray dust. The first tower had collapsed. We walked about a mile and a half north to an elementary school that gave us shelter in their gymnasium. And thus began my 9/11 day, week, months, and even years of healing.
Yes, 9/11 marked a huge change in our country. And not for the better. Xenophobic rhetoric has become more strident. Anti-Islamic sentiment still permeates large sections of the United States. And the hubris of this administration, having abandoned virtually all worldwide diplomatic channels, should not be surprised by a second 9/11.
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