Book gifts among final touches to opening Sherman at Gorton today

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 9/30/21

By JOHN HOWELL One thing missing from the relocation of Sherman School to school administrative offices at the former Gorton Junior High School are books. But when students report to in-person classes scheduled to start today at Gorton, they have plenty

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Book gifts among final touches to opening Sherman at Gorton today

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One thing missing from the relocation of Sherman School to school administrative offices at the former Gorton Junior High School are books. But when students report to in-person classes scheduled to start today at Gorton, they have plenty of books thanks to many generous people.

“We put a post on Facebook and it just took off,” fourth-grade teacher Susan Fusco said as she and fellow fourth-grade teacher Melissa Devine looked through one of a half-dozen cartons Montana Green dropped off Monday afternoon.

Neither of the two personally knows Green, and to their knowledge she doesn’t have any children currently attending Sherman.

Kindergarten teachers repeated the story of donations made by caring residents and parents.

Kindergarten teacher Cheryl Hoyle opened a closet door in her room to reveal shelves filled with books, crayons, playdough and games. She has everything she needs.

“I’m forever grateful,” she said.

With the cleaning of Gorton and the transfer of furniture completed, teachers were welcomed to their classrooms last week to put everything in place for classes today.

The administration talked of holding an open house prior to classes at Gorton to give parents an up front look at Sherman at Gorton. On Monday, Catherine Bonang, secretary to Superintendent Lynn Dambruch, said that plan has been dropped in favor of a video tour of the school as well as a tutorial on the traffic circulation plan. The video would be posted on the school website.

Despite efforts to make the transition from Sherman to Gorton as seamless as possible, some teachers were still wondering when they might see some furniture – a rocking chair was one example – and materials as well as books they had bought for their classrooms. One teacher said she was still waiting for a filing cabinet with student information and missing “tons of stuff” from her classroom.

Kindergarten teachers and teacher assistants found preparing their rooms Monday afternoon were in agreement that the kids are excited about being in school and in a classroom. They also pointed out that unlike the first day of school and because they have been doing distance learning, they know the students and the students know them.

Resource center teachers Jean Ranallo and Susan Sylvester find themselves in a room, but their mood was positively positive. Nothing from their digs at Sherman made it to Gorton.

DiMartino, who was reveling in the fact that someone had found her a chair, said the “community is really coming together.”

“This is all good. It’s important to be positive,” she said.

Sylvester and Ranallo were figuring out how they would work one-on-one with students within the space. The room’s blackboard had been painted white, so that was of no use for instructional purposes.

Ranallo said they would be receiving two movable white boards. A plan to use the boards for instruction as well as to partition the room blossomed.

“How beautiful these rooms are,” Ranallo said of the deep cleaning given the school by custodians. “And we have air conditioning,” she added with delight.

A mold bloom was discovered at Sherman this summer before the school was scheduled to open. The opening at Sherman was postponed several days to continue the cleanup. After tests showing a safe level of mold throughout most of the school, the administration reached the decision to relocate the school rather than risk another mold bloom. Meanwhile, they ramped up plans for Sherman renovations totaling an estimated $4 million that includes a HVAC system. That work is being scheduled for completion by the start of school in 2022.

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