Moretown Aims To Help Students Regain Emotional Security

VPR/ Patti Daniels

Moretown Elementary School Principal, Duane Pierson, in his make-shift office. The school was particularly hard hit by Tropical Storm Irene, forcing students to attend class in large tents set up on the school's recreation field.

(Host) Tropical Storm Irene hit just as Vermont schools were getting ready to open for students.  One of the schools particularly hard hit by the flooding that ensued was the Moretown Elementary School. 

VPR's Jane Lindholm recently went back to the school to see how it's faring now.

(Lindholm) It was sewer water that did in the Moretown school.  Principal Duane Pierson was down in the boiler room as the water began to rise.

(Pierson) "This was the doorway out, up to the grounds and it just was pouring in.  I was in denial.  I said, 'oh, it's not going to get much worse than this.' And then when I saw it coming in it really started to come in quite quickly and I was pretty shocked.  And then I realized, oh my god, this is bigger than what I thought it was going to be."

(Lindholm) The carpeting throughout the school was, needless to say, ruined.  And the school was uninhabitable.  So the kids went on field trips.  And then class was held in tents set up on the athletic fields.

The school was cleaned up enough for students to return within a few weeks.  But Principal Pierson says it took a while for things to really return to normal.

(Pierson) "It wasn't until about the end of November when I felt as though there was a kind of a rhythm back into the school.  Because up to that point we still were dealing with people that were displaced who were trying to figure out where they were going to be.  So we had a lot of instability up to that point."

(Lindholm) The school has been granted an exemption from the state testing known as NECAP for this year.  Principal Pierson says he is confident that the school will be in good shape for evaluations next year.  And it remains to be seen whether or not some students whose houses were damaged in the storm will ultimately stay in Moretown, raising questions about the school budget, which is based on per-pupil funding.

But this year it's important to help students continue to make emotional progress in dealing with the devastation that struck their community.

(Pierson) "We really have students that have lost their sense of safety or their sense of normalcy and that takes a long time to get back.  So I think you see that when they interact with peers, when they interact with people coming into our building.  And we see that sometimes in classrooms as students are struggling with the stress at home.  And it comes into the classroom."

(Lindholm) The school itself is still a little bruised as well.  The floor throughout the building was stripped down to its rough concrete base so staff and students are trying to make the best of the industrial look: 

(Pierson) We're kind of in a high-rise, New York City flat that looks very unique.  So it's, everyone's used to it and it will be fine."

(Lindholm) New tile should be fully installed after the school year ends.  But, by and large, Principal Pierson says, the Moretown School has emerged stronger than before-becoming a community gathering place and a center for hope in the village.

For VPR news, I'm Jane Lindholm.