By STEPHANIE GASKELL
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - The last time they'd seen their school, the students at Stuyvesant High were scrambling to evacuate while taking in the frightening sight of the nearby World Trade Center on fire and then crumbling into dust.

It made for a pensive return to class when the flag-draped school reopened on Tuesday.

"I was a total mess when the towers came down," said freshman Max Bernstein. "I've paid my emotional dues, but it still bothers me."

Junior William Barnard said he was having trouble focusing on schoolwork. "I was one of the last ones out," he said. "All I could see was a big dust cloud."

Barnard couldn't help searching the skyline where the trade center used to be.

"I looked around," he said. "It's just not there."

When the students left on Sept. 11, their school was turned into a triage center, but only until it became clear there were few survivors to treat. Then the school had to be thoroughly tested for asbestos and cleaned.

Meanwhile, the students spent a month as guests at Brooklyn Tech, another of the city's top-ranked schools.

They returned Tuesday to a neighborhood transformed. Beneath the West Street overpass that leads to the school entrance, dump trucks carried debris away from the scene of destruction. National Guard troops in camouflage gear patrolled the area while dozens of school safety officers surrounded the school.

Schools Chancellor Harold Levy was on hand to greet the students and taped up a sign that said, "Welcome Stuyvesant Students and Staff." Sen. Charles Schumer escorted his daughter, Jessica, to school and pronounced the building safe.

Alice Chan, a 15-year-old junior, said she was not looking forward to returning to the psychology class she was in when the trade center was first hit.

"I saw the fire but I never believed it would fall down," she said. "I'll just try not to look out the windows."

But freshman Leona Rosenblum was "really excited to come back." Sophomore Jacob Smith agreed: "It's time."