September 11 Tribute
A Salute to First Responders
Watch the ceremony
Families, alumni, and friends who cannot join us on campus can watch the full ceremony here. The stream begins shortly before the program starts and remains on this page afterward as a recording.
Live from the Providence Academy campus beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, September 11, 2026.
Schedule for the September 11 Tribute: A Salute to First Responders
The full school community gathers to honor the first responders who serve our city and to remember the 2,977 who died on September 11, 2001.
9:30 a.m.
First Responder Vehicle Parade
Vehicles from departments across Hennepin County arrive on campus.
9:50 a.m.
Ceremony on the front steps
- National Anthem played by the Providence Academy Band
- Remarks by Dr. Todd R. Flanders, Mayor Jeff Wosje, and T. John Cunningham, Assistant Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety
- Taps played by a bugler
- Amazing Grace played on the bagpipes
Parents and Providence Academy guests are strongly encouraged to arrive before 9:15 a.m. The front parking lots will close promptly at 9:15 a.m.
Six days into our first year
Providence Academy opened its doors to students for the first time in the fall of 2001. Six days later, the attacks of September 11 changed the country. A school that had barely begun found itself forming its first students in the shadow of that morning, and the day has shaped this community in the twenty five years since.
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2001
Middle and Upper School students were called to the chapel to learn what had happened and to pray together. Dr. Todd R. Flanders, headmaster, wrote to families that day:
As the aftermath of this tragedy unfolds, faculty and staff will be available to help students to think about the events, and to try to understand matters that are, admittedly, very hard to understand. Dr. Todd R. Flanders, September 11, 2001
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The early 2010s
Students began lining the campus drive and entryway with American flags, one for each of the 2,977 lives lost in the attacks. The tradition started with the help of the Lions for Life student group, and the flags are still planted by students every year.
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2015
That spring, the class of 2015 graduated. They were the last students who had been enrolled at Providence Academy on September 11, 2001.
That September, the Plymouth fire department called Dr. Flanders and asked whether they might drive through campus to see the flags. He told them they would be more than welcome. Then he had the faculty bring every student outside. The trucks arrived to find the entire school waiting along the drive to surprise and honor them.
The silent parade has been held every September since.
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2021
Two decades after the attacks, and twenty years after the campus first opened, the tribute brought together the flag planting, the parade of vehicles, and a full ceremony. Emergency personnel parked and joined the students in front of the school to hear the Upper School band and the guest speakers. The keynote came from Detective Alex Johnson, class of 2005, a member of the first class to graduate from Providence Academy.
Scenes from past ceremonies on campus.
No matter how many years pass, Providence Academy students will never forget what happened on September 11, 2001.
Reporting on the commemoration from the Providence Academy Word, our student newspaper:
Two Decades Later: PA Remembers 9/11, September 2021
Building a Community and Remembering Lives Lost: Providence Academy Commemorates 9/11, September 2022
Participating departments
We are grateful to the fire departments, police departments, sheriff's office, and emergency medical crews from across Hennepin County joining us on campus this year.
Brooklyn Center Fire Department, Brooklyn Park Fire Department, Dayton Fire Department, Golden Valley Police Department, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Hennepin EMS, Hopkins Fire Department, Maple Grove Fire Department, Maple Grove Police Department, Medina Police Department, Minnetonka Fire Department, Minnetonka Police Department, Mound Fire Department, Osseo Police Department, Plymouth Fire Department, Plymouth Police Department, Richfield Fire Department, Robbinsdale Fire Department, and West Suburban Fire.
For members of the media
Media are welcome. Please contact us in advance to arrange campus access, interviews, and photography.