The school bell will ring again first thing Monday morning welcoming students back to Bancroft Elementary School in Spring Valley.
It was the most damaged campus in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District after raging flood waters on Jan. 22 destroyed flooring and carpets in every classroom and office.
Nicole Wilson is in her fourth year as a teacher of first- and second-grade students. She spent three days this week moving back into the classroom that she and her students evacuated last month.
She started by changing the calendar on the wall.
“I came back and there it was on January 22nd. So, it was frozen in time. It was a little eerie," Wilson said. "I did get a chance to switch up some things, and just start new. But, we’re also going to be getting back to our routine because consistency is the best thing for these kids right now."
For just about a month, more than 400 students and 53 Bancroft staff members have been visitors at nearby Spring Valley Academy. That has been their temporary learning center while reconstruction was completed on their campus.
Bancroft Principal Nathan Saucedo led the moving efforts on Friday at the temporary front office. He has prepared students for what's coming next.
"(I've told them) classrooms are going to look a little different with new carpeting and furniture. Just giving them that expectation that we're getting a fresh new start at Bancroft," Saucedo said.
Robert Cochran is the chief safety officer for the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District. He has spent most of the past month coordinating demolition, renovations, and repairs: 40,000 square feet of flooring had to be located and then trucked cross country from a wholesale company in Georgia. It was the only place to find that much product on the short timeline the district was working with.
The new flooring has heavy vinyl backing that can be repaired more efficiently if flooding occurs again.
“There has been massive support both internally and externally to bring this together, repair these buildings, make them safe, and ready for occupation,” Cochran said.
Nicole Wilson and her colleagues plan a celebration for Monday's return.
“That was our biggest teachable moment and just learning resilience and moving forward,” she said.
