I was in third grade. Here's my very clear recollection of that day:

Our grade school had an intercom speaker at the top of the wall behind the teacher in each classroom. The principal would make morning announcements and other news and reminders at the start of each day.

On the day of the JFK assassination, I remember sitting in class with the teacher giving a lesson and suddenly the intercom speaker sounded with the principal's voice. He called for attention for an important announcement. The classroom went silent. His calm but earnest voice told that "President Kennedy was shot in Dallas today and has been killed!" A gasp from my teacher followed. The principal then directed all students to go out and have a recess for a few minutes to allow the teachers and staff to confer on what to do with such terrible news.

I remember a group of the young female teachers (all dressed in sensible shoes and modest dresses) standing together outside the classrooms, expressing disbelief and dabbing at their eyes. (Kennedy was pretty much beloved by everyone back then.)

While standing around on the playground, I remember one classmate saying, "Does this mean Barry Goldwater is going to be the president?" That sounded like a bad thing, but I didn't know for sure. Soon, we were called back in and then promptly sent home, and told to run. Run home without delay to our mothers. We did (it seemed fun and exciting) and I arrived home to see my mother standing in the living room on the landline phone with a distressed expression on her face, speaking with a neighbor. The black and white console TV was on quietly in the background and I could see our trusted network anchors gravely and respectfully telling us the word as it came to them.