Restoration of the St. Thomas/St. John Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) School is moving speedily as officials seek to have the school ready for the new semester, which will begin in January 2019.
This school is one of several educational institutions which were badly damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September, 2017. “The entire educational plant of the North Caribbean Conference was damaged,” said the Education Director of the Conference, Mrs. Gerene Joseph. Across the Conference, most schools were suspended until the end of September, after structural integrity assessments were made.
During initial assessments, engineers considered condemning the school’s structure fearing that the effects of the hurricane on the building could harm future occupants. Much of the damage was water-related, from rain that saturated the interior after the roof was damaged by high winds. In many damaged rooms, missing ceiling tiles exposed compromised wiring. The school’s Board of Management, staff and the constituency worked to overcome hurdles and return to a sense of normalcy.
The principal, Dr. Whitman Browne, complimented the spirit of cooperation, “Really, everyone did great. Children figure things out very quickly. All the staff and volunteers worked hard to make the transition smooth and it worked. I’m so proud of everyone for coming together and dealing with all of the changes we have had this year.”
On St. Thomas the students are housed at the Shiloh and City SDA Churches and teaches are required to shuttle between both campuses. “It has not been easy, but we are thankful for the positive attitude of the teachers and the tremendous sacrifice they make every day,” said Pastor Noel James, Chairman of the School Board. He and his colleagues in the local coordinating council worked hard to come up with a plan to get students back into the classrooms, as soon as possible. “We basically have about 150 students here in St. Thomas,” he said. “They needed educational services. They still needed to learn. We had to get the job done.” The school has been operating since the hurricane and education officials, along with conference administrators, endorsed the plan for the school to make adjustments in order to accommodate the increased enrollment.
“Presently the roof and windows are being worked on. The electrical and plumbing upgrade is still to be done. That will be attended to after the roof is through. Barring unforeseen circumstances, they very likely will be through by the end of January, 2019,” indicated Pastor James. School board members toured the school building in November, 2018 (with the project manager, contractor and architect) to assess the progress of the work and they are really satisfied with what is happening.
During the renovation, most classrooms will be retrofitted. Dr. Browne commented, “Everything was damaged. There have been no major improvements made since the hurricane of 1995. At that time, they upgraded one section of the roof [which had been torn off]. It is the section that was not torn off [in 1995 which was destroyed] during the hurricane [of 2017]. We are doing the entire roof now. We are trying to be thorough and upgrade as much as possible. Such upgrades will exceed the cost of what the insurance will cover. With the help of the North Caribbean Conference, our local churches and other donations, the students will soon enjoy their school home again.”
Sister Loretta Stapleton, a member of the City Seventh-day Adventist Church visited the worksite, spoke to the workers on the job and noted, “They seem to be doing well. The building is looking well. We need some money but by God’s grace we will make it.”
The St. Thomas/ St John Seventh-day Adventist School is an accredited school operated by the North Caribbean Conference. It serves a constituency of eight congregations on St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands.