Students and faculty at Amy Beverland Elementary School in Indianapolis are mourning the loss of their principal, Susan Jordan.
CNN reports that Jordan was killed when a bus carrying 25 students lurched forward outside the school at around 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, January 26. Jordan pushed several students out of harm's way just moments before she was struck.
The bus driver told firefighters that she didn't know what caused the vehicle to suddenly jump the curb. Two 10-year-old children that Jordan helped at the scene were hospitalized with serious, but non–life-threatening, injuries.
The school board released a statement about Jordan following the accident. "Susan was an amazing educator. She had a remarkable way of making everyone she came in contact with feel valued and important," the statement read, via CNN.
"She had a passion for children that is unmatched," the statement continued. "The entire Lawrence Township Community mourns her loss and extends our sympathy to the Amy Beverland Community and the multitudes of people whose lives she touched."
Rita Reith of the Indianapolis Fire Department also spoke out and noted that students "loved" Jordan. "Up to the minute she was alive, she was helping the kids," Reith said.
Jordan had been employed by the Lawrence Township district for more than 20 years. (Students dedicated a sweet video to her just last May.) The school's official Twitter account posted on Tuesday that the facility would be closed on Wednesday so "we can mourn the loss of our beloved Susan Jordan."
