Natural disasters affect millions of lives each year devastating educational institutions and their communities. This case study identifies lessons learned by school leadership in the aftermath of a devastating tornado that destroyed one‐third of the city, injured over 1,000 people, and took the lives of 158 people including members of the school community. The data were collected through personal interviews with 10 district administrators and educators who were directly affected by the crisis. The findings presented identify a set of lessons learned that may guide other educational institutions to be more prepared in a crisis situation including the importance of hiring expert help, creating a plan to receive resources, and establishing practices of communication that support communities in crisis situations.

Natural disasters affect millions of lives each year, devastating educational institutions across the world (United States Agency for International Development, 2010). This qualitative study was designed using a case-study approach to understand one school district's leadership response to a catastrophic crisis in order to gain lessons learned that could prepare other non-profit, public educational intuitions in a future crisis. The study, using the framework of Bolman and Deal (2008), identified specific areas within each of the four frames: structural, human resource, political, and symbolic that should be considered when responding to a major disaster first-hand. The findings include several lessons learned that may guide other leaders in responding to a crisis.