Highglen elementary school, students, teachers and parents spent their first week in their new College Heights location putting down some roots.
The Highglen blaze two weeks ago left the school extensively damaged, which kept 236 students at home for four days while an alternate facility was prepared at Gladstone elementary. Thanks to long days of planning by school board officials and staff at the school and a rallying effort from parents, the forced move to a different school resulted in no major glitches.
Kids being kids, Highglen principal Karin Paterson says they've had no trouble adjusting. She knew that on day one at Gladstone as she watched the students getting off the bus Monday morning.
"That was my first hint how resilient the kids are," said Paterson. "You could just tell, they were really excited and you could see that in the body language, their smiling faces and their high-fives. I saw nothing but resilience and excitement."
At the school assembly that day, it was a new gym in a new school, but all the students sat grouped exactly as they would be if they were at Highglen. The kids reacted with cheers when they learned they'd be part of a lunchtime hot dog barbecue.
"The school has different walls and echoes, but it has that same feeling," said Paterson. "Sure, the classrooms look different, the materials are still slowly trickling in, and the spaces are being utilized differently, but you're seeing the same kinds of behaviours and the same kids moving around finding things to do.
"One of the things the kids love is the playground. That's the silver lining. We have a wooded area with lots of ants and there's a playground, and when I go outside it doesn't look like there are 236 kids spread over the property. It still feels new to me, but give it another week and it will seem like they've been here forever."
The district has stocked each Gladstone classroom with school supplies, however the school has a very limited selection of library books and still has to replace many of the arts and crafts materials, educational games and reference books lost to the fire. Although the library at Highglen was not in the part of the building consumed by flames, all of the books were damaged by smoke.
"From where we were a week ago, we're actually in great shape, I'm pretty proud of where we've gotten to," said Tracy Summerville, chair of the Prince George Montessori Educational Society.
"The school district is obviously committed to Montessori education, it's one of a very rare public Montessori schools, and that's extraordinary that a choice school is available to us."
The Montessori parents are asking the public to donate items still in short supply today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus hall at 7201 Domano Blvd.
Primary classrooms are in need of games, puzzles, building blocks, pattern blocks, beading kits and string, knitting materials, paints, paint brushes, metric tape measures, crafting materials, and science- and history-related reference books.
The intermediate classrooms lack polymer clay, sewing materials (fabric, needles, thread,coloured string), acrylic paints and brushes, beading materials /loom, wood burning kits and wood, knitting materials, chessboards, rolls of wire and needle nose pliers, playing cards and dice, sketch books, journals, science instruments, and calculators.
The Montessori concept encourages creativity and independent thinking by allowing students to choose their own classroom activities to learn concepts, using hands-on, practical materials stored at work stations rather than traditional learning tools. Classes consist of mixed age groups so younger students can learn from the older ones, who in turn develop confidence by sharing their knowledge.
"Our classrooms are quite different, they're unique in the materials and that was our big concern," said Summerville. "Some of the materials are expensive and handmade. It takes a bit of time and as parents we're trying to work through getting those things in."
Although two parrots were among the animals that did not survive the fire, firefighters did manage to save several of the school's pets, which have been given foster homes with the students. The SPCA donated two rabbits to the Montessori students.
The after-school care program at Gladstone that was supposed to open Monday will start at a later date, yet to be announced. Before-school care has been cancelled for the remainder of the school year.
The Okanagan Montessori Elementary School Society in Kelowna is raising money for the school in Prince George. As of Thursday, $3,745 had been collected.
Paterson is unsure if the Montessori program will ever be moved back to Highglen. A lot will depend on whether the school district chooses to rebuild the school.
"For me, it really has been day by day, and whether we're here for a week or a year, my focus is making it work really well," she said. "That's healthy, it's optimistic and it focuses us on what's really important, on what we do, rather than what's around us."