The schools on Surrey Road in Springfield were badly damaged in the June 1 tornado.
View full sizeDamage done to Cathedral High School in Springfield by the June 1 tornado is seen the day after the twister hit.SPRINGFIELD – Officials for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield are scouring the city for any possible spot that can serve as a temporary home for Cathedral High School and the middle school at St. Michael’s Academy so the schools can reopen in three months.
“We are making every effort. It is our goal to have the school open in September,” said Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the diocese.
Cathedral High, on Surrey Road, was badly damaged in the June 1 tornado that devastated the East Forest Park neighborhood where it is located. It housed about 650 students in grades six through 12.
The building that houses the elementary grades of St. Michael’s Academy was not damaged.
A damage estimate on the building is not expected for at least 60 days, but the day after the storm, educators knew the building was in such poor condition they would not be able to open in September.
Students have not returned to class since the storm. They gathered at Elms College on Tuesday for a final wrap-up of the year.
Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell said he is committed to reopening the school, Dupont said.
“The bishop said our primary focus is to find a location in Springfield,” Dupont said, but added that if there was a possible location in a nearby community, the diocese would consider it.
It is a challenge to find a temporary location, especially in a city that has seen millions of dollars in damage and saw two public schools severely damaged.
In 2009, the diocese closed four of its elementary schools in the city and joined all the children together under one roof, creating St. Michael’s Academy. The plan also put middle school students in a renovated wing of Cathedral.
The city purchased two of the Catholic elementary schools as soon as they were closed, so they are unavailable.
The MacDuffie School off Maple Street will also be vacant in September because the school is moving to Granby, but the academic buildings cannot handle more than about 230 students and much of the campus was also badly damaged by the storm, Thomas P. Addicks, the interim school head, said.
Dupont said school officials understand the difficult situation parents are facing.
“We know people need an answer and they need it soon,” he said. “I think they should hang on ... Cathedral High School is more than a building, it is a type of education.”
Daryl deVillier, of Springfield, the father of three Cathedral graduates who has children entering the 11th and 7th grades, said he is waiting.
“We are a little bit alarmed but we are holding on with full faith,” he said.
Most parents and students he has been talking to believe the diocese will find a school.
“There seems to be an unbridled optimism that we will come out of this,” he said.
Kathleen Flanagan, whose youngest child will be a senior in September, said she believes her daughter will graduate from Cathedral.
“I think it is only fair to give them a reasonable amount of time to look around and see what properties are available,” she said. “This is an unprecedented event.”
Flanagan, of Springfield, said she and her father graduated from the school and she does not believe church officials will give up on having Catholic education in the city.
“You need to be flexible and creative. If you approach it from that view, you have to expect they will be able to do something,” Flanagan said.