WARWICK — Elementary school students will spend the rest of their week at Pioneer Valley Regional School following last Thursday’s storm.
The storm led to dozens of blocked roads and has left hundreds of Warwick homes — and the Warwick Community School — still without power. Warwick Community School was closed Monday and may remain closed for the rest of the week, Pioneer Superintendent Jonathan Scagel wrote in an email to parents on Monday.
While Orange was also heavily affected by the storm, having to close its own schools Thursday and Friday, schools opened again this week, according to the Orange Superintendent’s Office.
“The phone lines and internet are still down, and with no cell service, there is no way to call out if an emergency arises,” Scagel said of Warwick’s situation. “Our sprinkler system is also tied to the phone lines, and is not operational at this time.”
As a result, Warwick students and staff will be transported to Pioneer in Northfield for school for the rest of the week. Scagel said they will have access to classrooms to use and will be served breakfast and lunch there. Additionally, Warwick Community School students will be able to partake in nearly all normal daily activities, including physical education, music, art and recess.
The F.M. Kuzmeskus Inc. bus company will run buses from the Warwick Town Hall to and from Pioneer. Families will have to get their students to Town Hall, and pick them up there at the end of the day.
For Pioneer students, pick-up time at Town Hall is 7:10 a.m. For Warwick Community School students, pick-up time is 8:20 a.m. for transportation to Pioneer. All students will be dismissed from Pioneer at 2:30 p.m. and will be dropped off at Town Hall at around 3 p.m.
Originally, Thursday was a planned half-day for elementary school students because of parent/teacher conferences, but now Thursday will be a full day, and the conferences will be rescheduled. According to Scagel’s announcement, Friday is a regular early release day, so all students will be dismissed from Pioneer at 12:56 p.m. and brought to Town Hall around 1:30 p.m. for pick-up. Friday’s parent/teacher conferences will also be rescheduled.
“If you cannot make it to Town Hall for drop-off because your road is impassable, please contact Pioneer and let the front office staff know, so we can count it as an excused absence,” Scagel wrote.
According to a Facebook post from the Warwick Police Department, at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Monday, power had been restored to all buildings in town while telephone service and broadband were still being worked on with no clear idea of when full restoration is expected.
If you have questions or need to contact your child, a teacher or the school nurse for any reason this week, call Pioneer at 413-498-2931.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.