Area school tries to adapt classes until repairs done

On May 6, the tornado that devastated parts of Jackson damaged Immaculate Conception School so badly that classes were canceled for the rest of the 2002-2003 school year. With demolition of the two main buildings to begin next week, school officials plan to bring in eight modular classrooms before classes begin Aug. 20.

Construction of a $3.5 million building that will replace the damaged ones is to begin in the fall and is expected to be complete by Aug. 1, 2004.

The modular classrooms will house 145 students in grades three through eight. They will be placed on newly acquired church property on Jefferson Street, just north of Immaculate Conception Church. The church bought and razed a house to provide space for the classrooms. The church also owned a nearby house on Madison Street that was damaged by the tornado. It has been torn down to provide more parking.

One of the church buildings to be demolished was built in 1948, the other in 1971. They contained 10 classrooms, the music room, the library and the gymnasium. The new building will provide 14 classrooms for grades three to eight, including a gym, library, music room, art room and extra rooms to accommodate growth.

Blending in

The new building is also designed to blend in with the only school building that won't be demolished, a $2 million addition built in 2002. The addition was damaged but has been repaired at a cost of $350,000.

The new structure will be built south of the old school site, which will become a parking lot.

Construction of a new school wasn't in Immaculate Conception's plans for another 15 years. "I guess Mother Nature and God had other ideas," principal Tami Nenninger said.

Only about one-third of the replacement cost was covered by insurance. Nenninger said the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese has agreed to loan the church money over 10 years instead of the usual five. The diocese also is accepting a one-third down payment instead of the usual one-half.

All of the school's 265 students will be affected by the changes, Nenninger said. "The next school year is going to be a little different."

During the 2003-2004 school year, Immaculate Conception School students will attend music classes in Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Because the school will have no gym for a year, students will spend a lot of time outdoors when weather allows.

"On rainy days we will have to be real creative inside the school cafeteria," said physical education teacher Ellen Koeper.

The upper grades' physical education classes will move to nearby St. Paul Lutheran School. Because Koeper also teaches at St. Paul Lutheran School, working that schedule out won't be difficult.

Immaculate Conception's athletic programs will use the gymnasiums at Jackson's junior high school and middle school. It will have to adjust its scheduling of athletic events to avoid conflicts with the public schools. "That will definitely be the hard part," Koeper said.

The church's parish center will house the school's library and preschool during the coming year.

City approval sought

The school will seek a special-use permit for the rented modular classrooms at Monday's meeting of the Jackson Board of Aldermen. If granted, they will start going into place the last week of July. Classroom material is still packed away on trucks.

Nenninger moved back the start of school one week to make sure the modular classrooms will be ready.

After the tornado hit, school officials salvaged built-in bookcases and cabinetry. Coat hooks, doors and wood trim expected to have sentimental value to past students was salvaged and will be auctioned off when the school begins its new capital campaign.

The salvage work in the old buildings turned up a 1952 nickel and a "wheat penny," which the U.S. Mint stopped producing in 1958. On Thursday, a janitor found a note that had been tucked into a hallway baseboard in one of the damaged buildings. It was written by a student who had been sent into the hall for disciplinary reasons in 1978.

"We've come across some interesting things," Nenninger said.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182