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Neighbors | Zack Shively.St. Christine School placed their classroom materials from the displaced classes in the gymnasium. The Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline students moved the materials into other rooms to get classes ready for school.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Principal Walter Carpenter thanked everyone who helped get their building ready for school again, including rivals Ursuline and Cardinal Mooney. Pictured, students from Ursuline help set up a class room into Room A.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.St. Christine students returned to class on Jan. 25. Some classrooms had been moved or adjusted while the school finished repairs. Pictured, students had class in Room A, a former meeting room that have the meeting equipment removed and classroom furniture placed.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.St. Christine School reopened Jan. 25 after dealing with roofing and asbestos issues. Students from Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline high schools helped the school on Jan. 24 to prepare for to open the following day.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.St. Christine School had to shut down shortly after the start of 2018. The school hired companies to help repair the school and get it to working order. They passed an air quiality exam and quickly got the classrooms ready for school again. Former St. Christine students from Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline high schools helped the school get back in running order.
By ZACK SHIVELY
St. Christine School reopened on Jan. 25 with the help of students from Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline high schools.
The kindergarten through eighth-grade school closed shortly after the new year due to a roofing issues, which led to a water leak and an asbestos problem. The school brought in Daniel A. Terreri and Sons to remove the asbestos, Boak and Sons to repair the roof and Valley Acoustics to make repairs on the school. The school passed an air quality test that allowed them to reopen.
“We couldn’t take a chance on asbestos falling,“ said Walter Carpenter, principal of the school, “You have to think of the safety of the children, staff and parents.“
However, the leak and asbestos removal led to the displacement of classrooms. Many of the school’s resources and materials were placed in the gym during the cleanup. Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline high schools sent students to the school on Jan. 24 to help get the school ready for classes the next day.
“It’s nice that we have two schools that are fierce competitors and are helping out,“ Carpenter said. He continued to say that seeing the two schools come together to help them is special.
The problem caused four classrooms to be displaced and closed off a hallway. The students helped rearrange rooms to help become classrooms. For example, they changed a meeting room into a room for classes. The only class that remains without a classroom after the rearrangement is music education, which will be meeting in the gym until the repairs are finished.
The students from Ursuline and Cardinal Mooney had gone to St. Christine’s in the past. Mark Vollmer, principal of Cardinal Mooney, said that he called down senior students that had previously gone to St. Christine to ask if they wanted to help out.
“We wanted to help out in any way we could,“ said Vollmer, who helped alongside his students. He offered to place some classrooms at Cardinal Mooney if the school could not reopen this year. He said he appreciates the school because many of the future Mooney students spend their early years at St. Christine. He also said Mooney is service oriented and often looks for ways to give back, such as helping a fellow school.
The school opened as planned on the 25th with some adjustments made to classrooms. Carpenter received help from staff and parents as well as the Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline students.
He thanked everyone involved for helping the school get through a difficult situation in such a timely manner.