"It was a terrifying day," he said.

At the time, he was an assistant principal at Hunter College High School in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

"The school had students from all five boroughs of the city--Staten Island, Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan," he said. "The challenge was to ensure that all 1,400 students were handed over safely to their parents." The children were nervous. Many had parents that worked near the twin towers.

"How everybody got home that day is a miracle," he said.

Anderson said the incident has made him a tougher person and better equipped to deal with any kind of emergency or situation.

In the eight weeks he has been principal at Saratoga High, Anderson hasn't faced that kind of challenge yet. He hopes he never has to. But he is bracing himself for the regular, everyday challenge of being a principal at one of the highest achieving schools in the area.

"There are issues that are common to many high schools. They are fairly static. But this year, we are moving from a traditional to a block schedule where the classes meet less frequently but for longer periods," Anderson said.

His friends said Anderson has always been eager to take on new challenges, even when he was a student at Benicia High School.

Lars Christensen, assistant superintendent of human resources for the Turlock Unified School District in the Central Valley, has known Anderson since they were teenagers.

"He is a great athlete. He was on the high school's football team," Christensen said. "His greatest catch in high school, though, was when he caught an errant dog that had run onto the football field."

Christensen said Anderson has an ability to break down complex problems and make them look simple. "He's not afraid to think out of the box. He can play well with all kinds of people. He's a smart guy who makes smart decisions," Christensen said.

Anderson, 45, who was born in San Jose, said a love for history drew him to teaching.

He began his career as a history teacher at Sonoma High School. Before leaving for Manhattan in 2000, Anderson had moved on to become the assistant principal at Napa High School.

"I was always interested in coming back to California. I have relatives here," he said. "I like the diversity of the South Bay. It reminds me of New York City. I feel fortunate to be in this part of the world--the terrain, the weather and the openness of ideas."

Anderson lives in San Jose with his wife Jennifer and their two daughters--Olivia and Sonia.

"One of the interesting things about being an educator is that you constantly grow older while the age of people you are dealing with remains the same. I have always dealt with kids who are between 14 and 18," he said. "I have more skills now but the issues that the young deal with are mostly the same."

Christensen said Anderson is an exceptionally loyal person.

"When we worked together, we did not always agree on policy and practices. But he always stood by me," he said.

Christensen had some advice for Anderson when he heard he was moving to Saratoga.

"I told him, 'It's a marathon, not a sprint,' " Christensen said. "A principal's job is never finished."