| Date |
Location |
Event and brief description |
|
| 1851 |
NYC, NY |
False fire alarm at Greenwich Avenue School |
|
|
Death toll: 40 children died exiting the building |
| 1901 |
New York |
NY governor mandates school fire drills |
| March 4, 1908 |
Collinwood, OH |
Fire destroys Lake View Elementary School |
|
|
Death toll: 172 children, 2 teachers, 1 rescuer |
| May 18, 1927 |
Bath, MI |
Man-made explosion destroys school |
|
|
Death toll: 45 (38 children) |
|
|
Injured: 58 |
| March 18, 1937 |
Rusk County, Texas |
Gas explosion destroys New London Consolidated School |
|
|
Death toll: estimated 300 |
| 1950s |
United States |
School duck and cover drills |
|
|
Initiated by the DOE |
|
|
Goal: protect children from nuclear attacks |
|
|
Formed basis for today's earthquake and tornado drills |
| December 1, 1958 |
Chicago, IL |
Fire in Chicago's Our Lady of Angels School |
|
|
Death toll: 92 children and 3 nuns |
|
|
Injured: 77 |
| July 15, 1976 |
Chowchilla, CA |
School bus hijacking |
|
|
1 bus driver, 19 girls, and 7 boys (ages 5–14) |
|
|
All survived |
|
|
Terr (1979, 1981, 1983) followed children's post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, emphasizing need for emotional first aid following trauma |
| October 17, 1989 |
San Francisco Bay Area, CA |
Loma Prieta earthquake |
|
|
Red Cross creates new division of services: DMHS |
|
|
Note: In 2005 Red Cross developed training specific to children's needs |
| April 19, 1995 |
Oklahoma City, OK |
Explosion of Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building |
|
|
Death toll: 168 (19 children) |
|
|
Injured: over 500 |
|
|
Disaster precipitates development of NEAT |
|
|
Note: NEAT (aligned with National Association of School Psychologists) supports children and schools |
| May 21, 1998 |
Springfield, OR |
Thurston High School shooting—Kip Kinkel (expelled student), opened fire in school's cafeteria |
|
|
Death toll: 2 students |
|
|
Wounded: 25 |
|
|
Kinkel also murdered his parents |
|
|
Clinton requested the DOE to develop guidelines to prevent tragic violence in U.S. schools |
| August, 1998 |
|
Government Publication: DOE publishes Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools (Dwyer et al., 1998) |
| April 20, 1999 |
Littleton, CO |
Columbine High School Massacre |
|
|
Death toll: 15 |
|
|
Injured: 24 |
|
|
Galvanizes federal and state support for safe schools |
|
|
Clinton initiated national conferences on school safety |
| May 16, 2003 |
|
Rod Paige, U.S. Secretary of Education, announced publication: Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools & Communities |
|
|
DOE models school crisis plan—expands beyond school violence, includes a variety of school crises |
| September 1–3, 2004 |
Beslan, Russia |
Armed terrorists held school hostage for 3 days |
|
|
Death toll: 344 (186 were children) |
|
|
Injured: hundreds |
|
|
Hickock, U.S. Education Deputy Secretary sent policy letter to U.S. school administrators, highlighting need to enhance school security |
| October 2, 2006 |
Nickel Mines, PA |
Amish school shooting |
|
|
Death toll: 5 female students |
|
|
Wounded: 5 female students |
|
|
Shooter commits suicide |