Second wave of schools reopen following earthquake

WASILLA — Knik Elementary and Goose Bay Elementary are part of the second wave of schools to reopen following the Nov. 30 earthquake.

Staff members returned to the elementary schools Monday morning in anticipation of students filling the hallways Tuesday, the first time in more than a week. The neighboring schools were relatively close to the epicenter of the 7.0 earthquake that garnered national attention, but principals at both schools said their buildings suffered minimal damage and they’re excited to welcome their young students back in their safe and secured classrooms.

“We’re ready for them. Our building’s ready and our staff is ready. We’re looking forward to it,” Knik Elementary principal John Gardner said.

Gardner said that most of the damage inside the school was superficial, from fallen ceiling tiles to various items tossed around. He said that the most substantial damage was in the gym’s suspended ceiling. He said the district is redesigning the ceiling so it won’t do the same thing in the next big earthquake. He said that the gym will remain closed until the work is complete.

Knik’s neighbor, Goose Bay Elementary, is one of the older schools in the district, according to Goose Bay Elementary principal, Ayla Brown. It was built in 1992, based on data shared via email by MSBSD Public Information Officer Jillian Morrissey. Brown said the building proved to be very sturdy after the dust settled.

“It’s a strong place to be,” Brown said.

Brown said that despite being so close to Vine Road, which cracked apart into a fissure in one of the more dramatic displays of the quake’s might, the school was spared from any serious damage.

“Our school did really well. It really held up,” Brown said.

On Monday, Brown met with her staff for a meeting to get ready for the first day back to school.

“We’ve been working as a team, just getting all the other areas of our building clean and ready and taking some time for us to process and debrief and heal from everything that’s happened. To just feel safe and comfortable back in our building and just super excited to get our kiddos back,” Brown said.

Brown said the damage was very minimal. She said that they had to replace several ceiling tiles, fix a leak in one of the bathrooms, and pick up the scattered items shaken from their usual spots. She said the custodial staff has been working this past week to get everything back to normal.

“They did a pretty incredible job. They took good care of us,” Brown said.

Aside from their normal custodial crew, Brown said they also got a lot of help from the district. She said that about 40 different people cycled through the building to ensure everything was safe, from engineers to fire marshals.

“That gives me a lot of confidence to feel really good about having kids come back to school tomorrow,” Brown said. “We really just can’t wait. We get big smiles on our faces just thinking about it. We’ve been missing our kids a lot so we’re really excited to have them back at school.”

Knik and Goose Bay are among a group of schools that reopened to students Tuesday. The list also includes Big Lake Elementary, Dena’ina Elementary, Mat-Su Central, Redington, Wasilla Middle and Wasilla High.

Houston High was open to staff on Monday and students will return Wednesday. Houston Middle will be closed for at least the remainder of the school year, and HMS students will report to Houston High Thursday. Staff at Finger Lake Elementary, and Colony High will return Thursday, and the schools will reopen to students Friday. District officials announced Tuesday that Colony Middle will not reopen until next week.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com