Katrina and Rita: Reports From Affected Schools and Early Childhood Education Programs

The NAES office continues, as it is able, to gather information about affected schools and ECE programs in the hurricane zones and to identify specific needs for support. Below are reports we have been able to gather.

All Saints Episcopal School, Beaumont, TX

Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School, Lake Charles, LA
The school reports minimal structural damage. Updates on the situation are available on the school’s web site, http://www.episcopaldayschool.org.

Christ Episcopal School, Covington, LA
Christ Episcopal School’s Christwood Boulevard Campus has reopened with currently enrolled students in the area asked to come to school on Monday, September 12. Evacuated students enrolling in the school are invited to begin classes on Wednesday, September 14. Additional information is available of the school’s web site, http://www.christepiscopalschool.org.

Coast Episcopal School, Long Beach, MS
Paul Stephens, Headmaster, has reported that the school’s buildings are intact and sustained minimal damage. He asks that the school’s faculty and staff members contact him on his cell phone at 228.324.6110 or via e-mail at <pjs01956@aol.com>.

9/8/2005 – Bishop Duncan Gray of Mississippi reported that he anticipates that the school will reopen in about two weeks time with the addition of some portable buildings on the campus. In addition to its continuing educational ministry, the school will also be the site of a joint Episcopal-Lutheran medical clinic and relief center, providing a staging area for supply distribution and other services. NAES is grateful to and gives thanks for Paul Stephens, Bishop Gray, the clergy of the diocese and the community of Coast Episcopal School, as it lives out its Episcoal identity, for their heroic service, leadership and witness to the Gospel as beacons of hope in the midst of the tragedy that has befallen them.

Grace Child Center, New Orleans, LA

The Little School at St. Martin’s, Metairie, LA

St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, New Orleans, LA

St. Augustine’s Episcopal School, Metairie, LA

The Saint Francis Academy, Inc., Picayune, MS

St. George’s Episcopal School, New Orleans, LACurrent information about the school is avialable on its web site at http://www.stgeorgesepiscopal.com/.

St. John’s Episcopal School, Ocean Springs, MSThe web site of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi reports that St. John’s Episcopal Church is intact.

St. Mark’s Preschool, Gulfport, MSThe web site of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi reports that St. Mark’s Episcopal Church has been lost.

St. Martin’s Episcopal School, Metairie, LA9/12/2005 – St. Martin’s Episcopal School is pleased to announce that it will reopen on October 3, 2005. School officials have toured the campus and determined that it suffered little damage, thus allowing it to reopen for the fall semester.

Information for returning parents and students, enrollment of students from other ISAS and Episcopal schools in New Orleans, enrollment of other students and other general information is available on the school’s web site, http://www.stmsaints.com.

The school asks that faculty and staff who have not already done so please contact the school via its web site to give current contact information.

St. Paul’s Episcopal School, Mobile, AL
School has reopened. Current information is available on the school’s web site at http://www.stpauls.pvt.k12.al.us.

St. Paul’s Episcopal School, New Orleans, LACurrent information about the school is available on its web site at http://www.stpauls-lakeview.org/.

St. Paul’s Episcopal School, Picayune, MSThe web site of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi reports that St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is intact.

St. Philip’s Episcopal Preschool, New Orleans, LA

Trinity Episcopal School, New Orleans, LACurrent information about the school is available on its web site at http://www.trinityno.com.

Trinity Nursery School, Pass Christian, MSThe web site of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi reports that Trinity Episcopal Church has been lost.

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A Prayer
Dear God. Give comfort, strength and peace to those most affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, especially any who have lost or are separated from loved ones. May the ache in their hearts be the place where your unfailing love and their brokenness find each other. May this tragedy bring resolve, conviction and a deep spirit of generosity to each of us. Teach us to embrace our sadness lest it turn to despair, and unite us in our common humanity, as we reach out in hope to those who suffer. Amen.

Written by the Rev. Peter G. Cheney, NAES Executive Director