There's no place like home--or your home school, as students and educators at a number of New York City schools are saying these days. As of early April, all but one of the six schools displaced by the September terrorist attack had returned to their buildings near the World Trade Center.

Being back in familiar surroundings has been a boost for the schools, most of which reopened in late January. Not that the host schools weren't welcoming and accommodating, but the displaced staff and students started to feel like houseguests overstaying their welcome, says Jamie Luft, a guidance counselor at the High School for Leadership and Public Service. "It's our building and our stuff and, really, our own little world here," adds Luft, a member of the United Federation of Teachers.

Guidance counselors like Luft, as well as social workers and other mental health professionals, have played key roles in easing the transition for students in the affected schools, both to their temporary quarters and back again to their sites in Lower Manhattan. As it turned out, the first day back at the High School for Leadership and Public Service was a Wednesday. On Monday and Tuesday, the school split the students into four groups and invited them to stop by for breakfast or lunch so they could check things out before school started on Wednesday. This was especially important at their school, Luft says, because it's located in a 14-floor office building that virtually overlooks the site of what used to be the World Trade Center. The cafeteria on the top floor is mostly windows, and students are spending more time there since they no longer are allowed to leave campus.

Students have experienced a wide range of aftereffects, Luft says, and they've adopted a variety of coping strategies. Some students might have pressing concerns they want to discuss, while others might get frequent headaches without relating them to Sept. 11. Others insist they have no problems and don't want to talk about the attack, she says, but they're obviously troubled. Schools and their mental health staff can't mandate counseling, but Luft says they strongly encourage it in some cases. In addition, there's a lot of informal counseling and talking going on these days, with students chatting among themselves.

For their part, the teachers are focused on getting back to the task at hand--helping students learn and graduate and move on to new options after high school.

Luft has been impressed with how everyone has coped with the disaster and its aftermath. "The students have been really strong and really brave. They've been adaptable and understanding," she says--not at all like the bad reputation often pinned on today's teenagers.