The roof damage was caused by the heavy snowfall this past winter.
he Mapleshade School in East Longmeadow as seen on Monday. The school will be closed all week because of roof concerns.EAST LONGMEADOW- Roof repairs at Mapleshade Elementary School should be completed by the end of the school year, said Superintendent of Schools Gordon C. Smith.
Smith said the school's insurance company has given the school up to $300,000 in connected costs associated with the roof damage caused by the heavy snowfall this past winter.
Mapleshade Elementary School's 329 students and 53 staff members were relocated to Memorial School in Wilbraham after a custodian found cracks in the school's cafeteria and gymnasium roofs on Feb. 4.
"I have to say overall it was a seamless transition for our students," said Mapleshade Elementary principal Brenda Houle. She thanked the Hampden-Wilbraham school district for being accommodating through a difficult time.
"We will be happy to be back at Mapleshade, but there are things about Memorial School that we will miss,"she said.
Smith said Diversified Construction, based in Amherst, is working on the roof. The beams that will replace the cracked ones have already been ordered and will be installed by mid-June.
Smith said he hopes to have all of the repairs completed and the classrooms cleaned and stocked with all of the equipment that was moved to Memorial School by July 11.
"It has all gone pretty smoothly so far," he said.
Students who missed six extra days of school due to the closing of the building have already made up four of those school days. Smith said Mapleshade students will end the year on June 24, just two days after the rest of the district.