ROGERS, Ark. — After tornadoes and severe weather left a path of destruction throughout Rogers and caused the closure of Greer Lingle Middle School, the district is finally ready to roll out mobile classrooms just in time for the new school year.
Rogers Public Schools is gearing up for the upcoming school year by keeping parents informed, recently hosting an open house for Greer Lingle Middle School families. The building sustained significant damage, forcing officials to close the school for the 2024-2025 term.
Since that decision was made, officials have been working to figure out how to educate the 700 students who attend there. They landed on installing 44 mobile classrooms on the campus of the Rogers New Technology High School.
"There were areas of the roof that were completely torn off. The HVAC units, which are normally put on top of the roofs, those were gone. Had damage to virtually all the ceiling tiles. Had damage to all the floors, especially the gym where the water had come in," Superintendent Jeff Perry explained. "We had 60 days to put together a plan to be able to house 700 students."
Perry said the mobile classrooms will be similar to normal classrooms; some will actually be bigger than a regular classroom. They'll have water and sewage systems and be equipped for learning. The district said they will be providing transportation to these temporary buildings.
"It's going to be a solid program that has all the extracurricular and all of the athletic options that you would have during a normal school year," Perry said. "There’s going to be some challenges, and it's going to look different, but it's going to be a great school year. We've talked to the Lingle staff. They are highly committed. They understand it's going to be a challenge. We're going to give some additional resources to them to be successful."
Perry said the district is still working to get these buildings up and running. For the first two weeks of school, 6th grade will learn at the First Baptist Church of Rogers on Olive St. and 8th grade will learn inside the Rogers New Technology High School. 7th grade will be inside the mobile classrooms. Perry said they're prepping teachers for a smooth transition.
"We want you to make sure that you focus on developing those relationships, creating the connection with students, creating that sense of family, so that when we do get back into the more normal part of the year, they'll be okay," Perry said.
Erin Winberry is a teacher in the district as well as the parent of an incoming 6th grader. She said her and her son are feeling a lot of different emotions.
"He's nervous because it is a brand-new school, but we've got a schedule. He has some really good teachers and a good support system already in place," Winberry said. "We're getting ready to welcome in children who don't know us, who have come out of a really traumatic time in their lives with this tornado."
Amy Faith is the parent of an incoming 6th grader who's trying to stay positive with her son, but she feels good about the decision the district has made.
"We have just talked a lot about how a school is not the building. A school is the people," Faith said. "Roger schools takes care of lots of kids every day and all different kinds of settings, and I feel very comfortable that they will be able to do that in this situation too."
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