DOVER - More than two hours after planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, some students at local schools were just becoming aware of the magnitude of the situation.

Some students sat in quiet shock, starting at the televisions. Nearly every classroom in Dover High School was showing news reports of the incident.

"This is the first I heard about this," said Dover High School student Dannette Coppock, 17. "I'm terrified.

"Oh god," she said, seeing information about the World Trade Center, and put her head on the desk.

Markeytta Miller, 15, who said her father works at the Pentagon, breathed a sigh of relief after making a discovery.

"He's in Pensacola, Fla., training right now," she said. "This is crazy."

Dover High history teacher Dianne Beck called the strikes "as well planned as Pearl Harbor.

"This is your generation's JFK," she told her fifth-period history class. "Everyone from my generation remembers where they were when JFK was shot.

"You will always remember where you were when this happened."

Rep. Nancy H. Wagner, R-Dover, who is also a teacher at Dover High, called Tuesday's attacks "horrifying.

"This must be how people felt during Pearl Harbor," she said. "Everyone is in disbelief.

"The kids realize how upset the adults are and they understand how important it is."

Justin Quinn, 15, asked if Dover Air Force Base would be a possible target.

"It's one of the biggest bases," he said, "and it's on the East Coast."

Milford High student Mike Wimer, 16, said he was in the library when he heard of the attack.

"It was on the Internet (when I read about it)," he said. "I didn't pay attention to it. In class we started watching the news on TV (and found out more)."

Dover High Principal Robert D. Adams said the school was trying to operate as closely to normal as possible.

Cape Henlopen School District Superintendent Andy Brandenberger said the district was also trying to carry on.

"We've asked staff to try to deal with this as best they can," he said. "We are trying to maintain a business-as-usual approach."

The district enacted a bereavement plan, used in past years to deal with student deaths.

In such cases, some students want to talk, others want privacy, he said. The school has available social workers and counselors.

Before noon Tuesday, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner ordered all public schools to close.

Dr. Robert Smith, Milford School District superintendent, said he received a call in the morning from Gov. Minner with a request to close the schools.

"Everybody is shocked that something like this can happen in our country," he said.

Linda Schenck, assistant superintendent of the Laurel School District, said she agreed with the decision to close schools.

"I support the governor wholeheartedly because we don't know who's responsible," she said.

"We have some families who may have a family member who'll get called to (Washington) D.C. or New York and families need to be together right now."

W. Reily Brown Elementary School in Dover set up a check-out table for parents to pick up their children. The school closed two hours and 15 minutes early.

Fourth-grade teacher Neda Zimmerman predicted that schools closed early based partly on the fact that many students have relatives working at the Dover Air Force Base, which heightened security during the scare.

Officials at the school told students "that there is a national situation" and that parents would explain more Tuesday night, said school principal Georganne Wagner.

"We're under control," she said.

Some students at Dover High were preparing to call friends and family once school let out.

"My stepmom and baby brother are in New York City (Tuesday)," said Latoya Mabin, 16. "As much as I travel, I'm just trembling."

Staff writers Aaron B. Kellam and Mike Lewis contributed to this article.