Washington Adopts Devastated
Queens School
Rockwood Park School-P.S. 207 in Howard Beach, Queens suffered devastating damage at the hands of Hurricane Sandy, with massive flooding through much of the building. Riding to the rescue is Washington Primary School, which has "adopted" several of Rockwood's grade levels in an effort to help students and teachers in the building get back to normal.
"Due to the fact that the schools in our district did not suffer any physical damage, we thought it would be a good idea to adopt a school that needed help," said Debbie Quiles, a Washington kindergarten who is coordinating the initiative through Schools Adopting Schools. Washington Principal Marsha Neville is four-square behind the effort.
Rockwood has an enrollment of 800 students in pre-K through eighth grade. Washington is adopting the pre-K-second grade level. Schools in New Hampshire (third through fifth) and Illinois (sixth through eighth) are adopting Rockwood's other grade levels.
"During the hurricane, Rockwood Park's basement was flooded," Ms. Quiles said. "This caused the oil burner to become detached from its pipes spilling oil and creating an unsafe environment in which to hold classes. At this point almost everything in the entire school (basement plus three floors) remains saturated with the smell of oil and will probably have to be discarded. As a result of this, the students of the school were relocated to two other schools."
Ms. Quiles is working with Rockwood third grade teacher Stephanie Hanley, who has compiled a list of needed items after consulting with the Queens schools' faculty. Rockwood's students have been relocated, with pre-K through third grade attending classes in a nearby school's gymnasium and fourth through eighth graders going to a school in Brooklyn. Mrs. Hanley said Rockwood hopes to be back in its Queens building by January.
"As we approach this holiday season, the Washington Primary School family is once again being asked to help others who have suffered great losses," Ms. Quiles said. Items being collected include composition notebooks, bottles of glue, glue sticks, safety scissors, crayons, washable markers, dry erase markers and erasers, pencils, pocket folders, construction paper, Post It notes, paper towels, tissues, Ziploc bags (gallon and sandwich size), baby wipes and disinfecting wipes.
Washington students have been bringing items to school and donating them through their classroom teachers. The items are collected weekly from each class, separated and then placed in boxes and readied for delivery to Rockwood Park School.
"Whenever the school opens, these items will hopefully provide the children with a sense of normalcy and make the transition back to school easier," Ms. Quiles said. "Whether it is a box of crayons or several rolls of paper towels, all contributions will be greatly appreciated."