After the Fire, Wilson School Students Return 9 Months Later

After being displaced by an accidental electrical fire nine months ago, The Wilson School was back in class on Monday for the second semester.

Since April, The Wilson School students have had class at the Maryland School in Clayton.

“Fire, water and smoke got probably two thirds of the building to some degree,” Head of The Wilson School Thad Falkner said. He said the cost for the repair was 2.5 million dollars.

“A lot of the roof was completely reframed,” he said. “Even though the shell looks identical to how it was, even the outer shell, a lot of it was replaced.”

Beneath the library was once a crawl space. It’s now a multi-use room called the Innovation Room. Falkner said that expansion was planned years before the fire, and they were able to complete the project the same time as the restoration from the fire.

He said 200 truckloads of dirt were removed from under the school to construct the new space.

The Innovation Room includes a seven and a half by 21-foot video wall.

“The term, Innovation Room seems to fit,” he said. “Our mission calls for classic and innovative methods. The library is very classic – we’ll never let go of books. For the innovative methods, this space should push that.”

Falkner said the students have had a great attitude.

“They’ve been flexible and happy,” he said. “They’ve looked at it the whole project an adventure.” He said seeing the community support has been a good life lesson for the students.