WEST CHESTER, Butler County — A fire damaged Hopewell Junior School in the Lakota Local School District on Monday, September 4, leaving hundreds of students without a place to learn, according to our media partners in Cincinnati, WCPO-9.
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When school principal Jeff Rouff learned that the building would require extensive repairs before students could return, he was left telling families that he didn’t know what the future of learning would look like.
The lead past at West Chester Nazarene Alex Mahaffey, quickly decided to welcome the school into his facility, which is a few blocks away from the school.
“When somebody reached out to us, we said that’s a no-brainer,” Mahaffey said. “We’re here to serve.”
School administration toured the church on Thursday, September 7, and teachers prepared makeshift classrooms on Friday, September 8.
“It’s something that they can use and keep the kids in-person and connecting with their teachers,” Mahaffey said. “I know my son will love being back.”
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Mahaffey has four children in the Lakota School District, including a seventh grader at Hopewell Junior.
Rouff said teachers will go through a “practice run” of a school day on Monday, September 11, and then welcome students back in person on Tuesday, September 12.
It could take a week and a half before students are able to go into a portion of Hopewell Junior, but it could take more than a month before the school is fully accessible, the station said.
Mahaffey said the church would be open to students for as long as they need.
While the school undergoes repairs, the Hopewell Junior PTO has created a fundraiser to help pay for repairs.
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