Supporting Each Other Through the Storm
Source/Author: Nancy L. Spencer, Head of School
October 07, 2022
For much of this past week, my first greeting to colleagues, students and parents upon re-entry to school was to inquire about their Hurricane Ian experience. I’ve learned how important it is for people to share their stories as we draw upon our sense of community to take stock of the hurricane’s impact. It has certainly been a moment of reflection and gratefulness, at the same time as we empathize with the misfortune of others.
Being fairly new to Florida, experiencing a hurricane was new to me. However, assessing risk due to weather and its impact on a school community is something that I am familiar with. Leading up to and immediately after the severe weather, the Administrative Team met on a regular and frequent basis to assess the situation. Our challenge was to deal with the uncertainty of what was going to happen, to make reasonable and practical decisions in the best interest of the School, and to communicate quickly and broadly.
There are established processes and protocols which guide the Administrative Team’s response to an emergency situation. We monitored the situation closely. With an appropriate amount of caution, we decided early on to close school to allow families who choose to evacuate ample time to do so. Multiple channels were employed to communicate with members of our community and get the message out. We used the time before the hurricane was slated to hit to prepare the campus. Our tremendous facilities crew spent many hours on Tuesday securing buildings and outdoor property.
Like everyone else, my family faced the decision about whether or not to leave. Since we are not in an evacuation zone, we stayed, and spent the time preparing our home, stocking up on water, batteries and other essentials. The TV was tuned to weatherman Denis Phillips, as numerous texts and phone calls came from family and friends around the country to make sure that we were OK. We even had a sweet note slipped under our front door from neighbors who are Shorecrest parents, checking in on us and offering help if we needed anything.
Of course, the storm wobbled south, and the anticipated direct hit on the St. Petersburg / Tampa Bay region did not occur. A sense of relief and good fortune was mixed with heartbreak for the impact on our fellow Floridians to the south.
On Thursday morning, I drove to Shorecrest’s campus to assess the damage. We knew that the power had gone out, but as I drove down First Street with gusts of wind still blowing past me, I was nervous about what we may find. A quick reconnaissance revealed that there were numerous branches down and a sun shade over the Lower School’s sandbox was torn and on the ground. There was little water and clearly no flooding. While it would take some time to clean up, we were going to be OK.
Very soon on Thursday, dozens of power trucks showed up on campus. Lineworkers with trucks from all over the southeast staged in our parking lots and began working to restore service across our community. Power was restored to campus late on Thursday, after a 26 hour outage, allowing us to plan for Monday’s reopening. Friday was spent cleaning up the campus and making sure that our tech systems were up and running.
The outreach and sense of community that were evident throughout this hurricane reinforces what a special place Shorecrest is. So many families reached out to others, to make sure that all Chargers had a safe place to be and offer whatever support was needed. Many of our students have expressed interest in helping those communities that have been severely impacted. School administrators are working to coordinate a response. Look for more information in the weekly School Head letters.
All the best,
Nancy
