Article Image Alt Text

Vermilion Parish Assistant Superintendent Paul Hebert was among those who helped to cleanup Kaplan Elementary.

Article Image Alt Text

Lauren Jackson Hebert and Rhiannon Abhsire are all smiles as they help clean up at Kaplan Elementary School. Both are second-grade teachers at the school.

Article Image Alt Text

High waters outside of Kaplan Elementary last Saturday soon made for around seven inches of water inside most of the school.

Article Image Alt Text

Kaplan Elementary will platoon with Kaplan High School

Community pride helps start KES cleanup effort

KAPLAN — When schools around Vermilion Parish resume on Monday, students at Kaplan Elementary will not be among those heading back, at least not to their own campus.
Vermilion Parish Superintendent Jerome Puyau announced Thursday afternoon that Kaplan Elementary and Kaplan High School will platoon at the high school campus.
Kaplan High students and staff will return to school on Monday, Aug. 22.
“Kaplan High will share their campus with Kaplan Elementary for four to six weeks due to the flood damage at Kaplan Elementary,” Puyau said.
Kaplan Elementary and Kaplan High will attend school on alternating school days during the coming weeks. Each school will attend school three days per week, with Kaplan High School students and staff attending Monday, Wednesday and Friday this coming week. The school hours will remain the same as in the past. The following week Kaplan High Students and staff will attend on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
A calendar will be posted on the school’s website and available for students to bring home.
Rene Rost Middle School in Kaplan will maintain a regular school schedule and activities.
Kaplan Elementary is still being cleaned up in the aftermath of historic flooding last weekend. The full effects of the rain began Saturday afternoon.
“The water started coming in and we got roughly six to seven inches of water throughout the school,” Principal Andrea Ford said. “Our gym area, that’s the newest area, didn’t flood. The main building, all our classrooms, cafeteria and the office, all that area flooded.”
The cleanup process is well underway. However, that work will not be completed in the next few days.
“Kaplan Elementary is going to stay closed until they finish the cleanup,” Ford said. “They started on Tuesday. The company came in from Texas and they are cleaning the entire school. Another company is going to come and remove all of the flooring.”
Ford said she feels for the students who will be away from their home campus for the start of the school year.
“Kaplan is a tight community,” Ford said. “Everyone was excited to get the school year started. We had just recently had our meet and greet. That was a great opportunity for us to bring the parents, students and teachers together. We recognize that our ‘first day’ of school has been postponed, but we know the community will pull together for support.
“There is no doubt that our faculty, students and community are resilient and will be ready to go when we return to school.”
The resiliency has already shown in the response to the flooding.
“The Kaplan community never ceases to amaze me,” Ford said. “From the moment we realized there would be an issue, the phone continued to ring with offerings of support. The clean up began immediately as we have faculty, community members, parents, school board members, and central office employees working together, hand-in-hand, to facilitate a plan.”
Vermilion Parish School Board member Laura LeBeouf, who represents the Kaplan area, echoed that sentiment.
“The effort of the teachers, staff, family and community in the KES cleanup is indication of the unity and strength of our close-knit community,” LeBeouf said. “People will do what is necessary in a time of crisis.
“I am proud of our community.”
It is the community’s pride that will bring the school to a tremendous opening of the year.
“I am still amazed by the generosity of the Kaplan community,” Ford said. “I couldn’t be more proud of how KES faculty and community has come together to get the school ready to reopen. As the principal of Kaplan Elementary, I am proud and honored to be part of such a committed educational team.
“We will remain steadfast in getting this school year started as soon as possible.”

PLEASE LOG IN FOR PREMIUM CONTENT

Our website requires visitors to log in to view the best local news from Vermilion Parish. Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe today!

Follow Us

Site Links

Subscriber Links