School Climate & Safety Video

How One NYC School Experienced 9/11: An EdWeek Editor Recounts That Day

By Sean Cavanagh, Kevin Bushweller & Yi-Jo Shen — September 04, 2026 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

On Sept. 11, 2001, EdWeek Deputy Managing Editor Kevin Bushweller was visiting the Fiorello H. La Guardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, when the world changed.

Bushweller was on the scene to shadow Laura Marks, a La Guardia physical education and health teacher who had been violently attacked by a student at a graduation ceremony a little over a year earlier.

On the morning of his visit, news of the attacks on the World Trade Center, a few miles away in Lower Manhattan, soon spread through the school.

Bushweller saw administrators and teachers make calm, deliberate decisions about how to respond to the news and work cooperatively with the school community.

In a conversation with EdWeek Managing Editor Sean Cavanagh, Bushweller describes the leadership he saw at the school that day. And he talks about what he sees as the prolonged impact of 9/11 on the work of schools.

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
The Assessment Trust Crisis: How to Measure Learning in the Age of AI
AI is reshaping learning. Is assessment keeping up? Join this webinar to explore how to measure student thinking, not just right answers.
Content provided by Instructure
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Student Trends to Counselor Action: Turning Insight Into Impact
Find out what is changing in how students approach planning for life after graduation and how schools can help.
Content provided by PowerSchool
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
McKinney-Vento Transportation Strategies: Managing Cost & Protecting Access
Explore McKinney-Vento transportation strategies to manage costs, respond quickly to changing needs, and protect student access.
Content provided by HopSkipDrive

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety From Our Research Center Fake AI Images Are Targeting Students and Teachers. Schools Aren't Prepared
New data show that many educators aren't well-versed on the risk of deepfakes.
5 min read
In this photo illustration, a teenager uses her mobile phone to access social media on January 31, 2024 in New York City. Technology executives appeared at a Senate hearing to address accusations that their companies are endangering children's lives by not adequately policing predators and others who seek to harm and exploit young social media users.
In this photo illustration, a teenager uses her mobile phone to access social media on Jan. 31, 2024 in New York City. Experts say schools need specific policies for AI-generated "deepfakes."
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
School Climate & Safety School Lockdowns Are Common, But in Some Kinds of Schools More Than Others
A new study tries to quantify how frequent school lockdowns are, and where they happen most.
4 min read
Law enforcement blocks the entrance to Lexington High School in Lexington, South Carolina on September 17, 2026, during a lockdown as parents and families gathered across the street in the Lowes Foods gas station parking lot.
Law enforcement blocks the entrance to Lexington High School in Lexington, S.C. on Sept. 17, 2026, during a lockdown as parents and families gathered across the street. A new study finds 1 in 5 students have experienced a school lockdown by middle school.
Dwayne McLemore/The State via TNS
School Climate & Safety Opinion Am I Brave Enough to Die for My Students?
An unspoken fear haunts educators in the era of school shootings. It’s time we talk about it.
Bridget Farr
•
4 min read
Illustration of a large silhouette of a teacher and a group of children on the right. A door with a shadowed figure peering through the window is in the left of the frame.
Illustration by Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Canva
School Climate & Safety A Shooting Strikes an Elementary School. Some Doubt Policy Change Will Follow
Tragedies like the one in Bend, Ore., draw public outcry, but typically not swift change on school safety.
5 min read
Children place flowers at a makeshift memorial outside Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Ore., Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, a day after a deadly shooting.
Children place flowers at a makeshift memorial outside Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Ore., Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, a day after a deadly shooting. The child victims, ages 5, 8, and 11, include the youngest person killed in a school shooting since Education Week began<a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-shootings-this-year-how-many-and-where/2026/01" target="_blank" link-data="{&quot;cms.site.owner&quot;:{&quot;_ref&quot;:&quot;00000173-0561-d1f0-a17f-adef4bee0000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20&quot;},&quot;cms.content.publishDate&quot;:1792177418426,&quot;cms.content.publishUser&quot;:{&quot;_ref&quot;:&quot;00000180-d7b2-d193-a1b2-dfbba3aa0001&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc&quot;},&quot;cms.content.updateDate&quot;:1792177418426,&quot;cms.content.updateUser&quot;:{&quot;_ref&quot;:&quot;00000180-d7b2-d193-a1b2-dfbba3aa0001&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc&quot;},&quot;link&quot;:{&quot;disableUtmTracking&quot;:false,&quot;target&quot;:&quot;NEW&quot;,&quot;attributes&quot;:[],&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-shootings-this-year-how-many-and-where/2026/01&quot;,&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;000001a1-4619-d1d1-a3f3-f77b151b0000&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a&quot;},&quot;linkText&quot;:&quot; tracking these incidents&quot;,&quot;theme.brightspot-theme-default.:core:enhancement:Enhancement.hbs.enhancementAlignment&quot;:null,&quot;theme.brightspot-theme-default.:core:link:Link.hbs._template&quot;:null,&quot;theme.brightspot-theme-default.:core:link:Link.hbs.type&quot;:null,&quot;theme.brightspot-theme-default.:core:link:Link.hbs._preset&quot;:null,&quot;theme.brightspot-theme-default.:core:enhancement:Enhancement.hbs._preset&quot;:null,&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;000001a1-4619-d1d1-a3f3-f77b14b10001&quot;,&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288&quot;}"> </a>tracking those incidents eight years ago.
Joe Kline/AP