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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 26, 2012)
Death Penalty Repeal Urged Portland Urban League | joins other groups to speak out fo r justice See Local News, page 3 Ring in the New Year! LOT, j V DJ OG One, Patrick Lamb and other celebrities headline a N e w ^ Year s Eve benefit. See Arts & Entertainment, page 10 g j^ortlanhCOhseruer 13 Volume XXXXI VolumeXXXXI ‘City < of Roses' Number Number Ifc j | 13| www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • December 2012 H fl L 3 Wednesday • December 26, 26, 2012 J Established 1970 _ , , Established in in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Committed to Cultural Diversity j / & °-f s •'communityservice •'community servit A Reti Home New Year to bring kids back to Marysville C ari H achmann T he P ortland O bserver by Three years after a fire destroyed their school, kids, faculty and families of southeast Portland’s Marysville School can finally return to their home building. “There is a real excitement in the air right now,” said Marysville Principal Lana Penley. “A sense of returning home— that warm feeling you get when you return home to a place that’s really special for you after being away for such a long time.” Four hundred and sixty students and 17 teachers were displaced when a fire burnt down the school’s east wing on Nov. 10, 2009. The cause was never determined. In the meantime, Marysville students have been studying five miles down the road at Rose City Park while their school was being rebuilt using $4.8 million in insurance proceeds. As students left Rose City Park for the last time before the Christmas break holiday, teachers packed up their rooms, preparing to report back to the school ’ s original location on Southeast Raymond Street on Wednesday, Jan 2. Over the holiday break, movers are bringing over the rest. Faculty will have three days to get Marysville School set up prior to kids’ arrival. Students start their first day in their old school on Monday, Jan. 7. While everyone is appreciative for having Rose City Park as a temporary school, Penley says it’s been a struggle for the Marysville community. Built in 1921 as a K-8 school, Marysville has a rich, 80-year history serving a culturally diverse popula tion of children and their families. The school hosts students from all over the world, where 20 different languages are spoken. The original trauma of the fire was jarring and the move to an interim school was stressful. It hurt our connection with families, Penley sai d- continued on page 2 photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Marysville second grader Jeremy Harmon, his school improvement specialist Amber Gerber and eighth grader Tracy La, were on hand for the first day o f public tours for the newly reconstructed school in southeast Portland. 4 massive fire three years ago displaced students and faculty. With construction complete, Marysville students return on Jan. 7.
