Above all, Nan Wooten wanted order to prevail.
Wooten, the former principal at Elon Elementary School, was in her office setting up a training activity when someone told her she needed to find a TV.
It was a time before TVs populated classrooms, so she located an older set on a rolling cart, brought it into her office and realized what has happening.
She can't remember if it was before or after the second plane hit the World Trade Center, but she knew something was wrong. Immediately, the phone began to ring.
"I went down the halls and told them to cut their TVs off," Wooten said. "The kids didn't need to see it, it was so real and graphic." Parents were allowed to pick up their children from the school if they wished, but no formal announcement was made to students or their families, Wooten said.
To ensure security, a member of the Elon Police Department completed a walk-through and stayed on campus for most of the day.
Other than that, the day went on as usual.
"We wanted to let people know we'd try to keep things as normal as possible," Wooten said.
Stephanie Nebrig, a second grade teacher at Elon Elementary at the time who now works at Highland Elementary, was one of the teachers who received the message to turn the TVs off immediately. She remembers an email from Wooten sent to staff with the theme, again, of maintaining a normal schedule and not discussing the issue with the students.
When the students had left the class for another activity, Nebrig remembers turning on the TV and watching a replay of the morning's events. Her husband, who taught at a local high school at the time, watched the events as they happened with his students.
Nebrig said early phone calls from parents expressed concern that their children would see the attacks.
"They wanted to explain it themselves," Nebrig said.
And for those students who did come back to school with questions, Nebrig said the response was simple. They were directed back to their parents.
"Parents choose to tell their kids different things," Nebrig said.
Now, 10 years later, Nebrig said the emphasis is on the emotion of the anniversary, not the events.
This past week, the students read a story about a man walking on a tight rope between the Twin Towers. The conclusion of the book includes the loss of the towers, though no specifics are given as to why.
A video was also shown Friday in an effort to salute first responders and other heroes.
Carrying on a tradition started on the first anniversary of the attacks, Elon Elementary now holds an annual parade saluting firemen, police officers and other responders.
"None of the students now were alive at the time," Wooten said. "We don't discuss the events themselves, different kids know varying amounts about what happened"