Big kid stuff is cool. Brand new big kid stuff?
Really cool.
That was the impression of Bradley School students Tuesday, who had to spend their day at the new Derby Middle School after a heating system failure forced them from their building.
The Problem
At about 9:15 a.m., about 400 Bradley students from David Humphreys Road were bused to the middle school on Nutmeg Avenue. The new middle school was able to accommodate the sudden influx of students because the sixth grade portion of the building won’t be occupied until September.
“The heat just wouldn’t come on this morning,” Schools Superintendent Stephen Tracy said. “The guys were all over the boiler room — they just just couldn’t find the problem in the boiler room.”
Once it became clear that the boiler’s problems most likely originated in the piping system underground outside the school, Tracy and Bradley principal Linda Coppola decided to get the kids out.
“For health reasons, you really can’t stay in a building where the temperature is dropping and there’s not hot water,” Tracy said.
Bradley houses kindergarten through sixth grade.
Tracy didn’t want to send the kids home.
“The weather was fine, no one would be expecting them at home. To have younger kids going home to empty houses, it was not a good idea.”
The Solution
Tracy called middle school principal Sally Bonina.
“We said ‘What do you think? We’re coming over,’” Tracy said.
The bus service company and the food services folks at the middle school rearranged their schedules to handle the temporary Bradley students.
The Bradley students used the sixth grade wing. Kindergarten classes were in the middle school library. The chorus room, band room and a science room were used as well.
“I was impressed with how quickly the teachers got right down, back to business,” Tracy said. “The kids came in, sat down in their seats and went right back to work.”
But not after some “oooing” and “ahhing” at the site of the new building. The kindergartners were especially impressed with the size of the chairs in the middle school. The cafetorium was a big hit as well, Tracy said.
Click the slideshow above to see photos Tracy snapped on his iPhone Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Back At Bradley
Crews dug up the piping system at Bradley to get an idea of what caused the heating system to go down in the first problem.
Eventually, workers found a piece connecting pipes had broken. It was unclear how much oil may have seeped into the ground, if any, Tracy said.
The workers laid another pipe, bypassing the problem.
The heat was working again at Bradley by the end of the day.
The school is expected to open Wednesday, assuming the weather holds out.
