Schools

Maryland School to Host Wilson Students Displaced by Fire

Classes begin Monday at the old elementary school building, a news release from The Wilson School states.

Students at will use 's old Maryland Elementary School for classes.

Wilson officials have signed a lease with the , allowing all of the private school's students to finish the academic year together. The DeMun neighborhood school serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.

While Maryland School closed in 1980, the building has been used by the Clayton district as recently as May 2011, Chief Communications Officer Chris Tennill said. Two of the district's early childhood classrooms were relocated there during construction at .

Utilities are operational at the building, even though it doesn't have a functioning cafeteria or kitchen.

Find out what's happening in Clayton-Richmond Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It beats the heck out of the smoke-, fire- and water-damaged school that they had," Tennill said. Wilson officials approached the Clayton district about a possible lease on the morning of the fire.

After negotiating a lease, the school hired a company to move Clayton district materials into storage and to set up its own materials at the building.

Find out what's happening in Clayton-Richmond Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Tennill said he isn't sure about the school's plans for the upcoming school year. He said both parties will have further discussions once details are finalized.

Up until this week, at places such as and .

In a letter to Maryland School neighbors, Chris Georgen of The Wilson School spoke about the temporary relocation. A copy of the letter follows:

Dear Neighbors of Maryland School:

My name is Chris Georgen and I am a member of the administrative staff of The Wilson School. As many of you already know, Wilson School experienced a fire in the attic of its nearly one-hundred year old facility on Thursday, March 29th.  

The results of the fire left the school unsafe for our students, teachers and administrators to return this academic year. Over the last two weeks, it has been nothing less than a monumental effort by Wilson School’s Board of Trustees, administration, faculty and staff to position our school for its temporary occupation of Maryland School beginning Monday, April 16th. 

We are grateful for everyone’s energy and advocacy in this effort.

On Monday morning April 16th through May 31st, Wilson School will be open and we will resume our regular school hours and schedule:

School Hours:

  • Early Morning: 7:15am – 8:15am
  • School Day: 8:15am – 3:25pm
  • Extended Day: 3:25pm – 6:30pm

Our reputation as a good neighbor is important to us. We are excited to be using Maryland School. Our children’s activities and safety are of paramount importance to us. We also respect the neighborhood’s utilization of the community garden and the School’s green space. We are hopeful you will work with us in the use of the School property.

Access to the community garden Monday through Friday will have to be limited to after 6:30 p.m. and before school starts at 7:15 a.m. This will ensure that the children’s activities will be able to carry on and that their safety will be ensured. On the weekends the Garden is available to everyone throughout Saturday and Sunday. We love animals as you do, especially dogs.Thank you in advance for helping to keep the field clean for our students by picking up after your dog.

We are looking forward to the new and exciting opportunies that the Maryland School will provide Wilson students. We are hopeful that we also meet your expectations as good neighbors. Please do no hesistate to contact me directly with any questions or concerns. We will see you in the neighborhood! 

Best,

Chris


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