The children of Markham Elementary finally made it back to their home campus on Tuesday, 51 weeks after the prolonged ice storm from last January broke pipes and flooded their school in southwest Portland.
Since January of last year, Markham’s students have been learning online before being divided among four other primary schools in Southwest Portland. While construction workers replaced Markham’s galvanized pipes and mitigated its exposed asbestos, kids from Markham were reunited in a Jackson Middle School wing this autumn. During last year’s ice storm, the school was by far the most severely affected of any school in the Portland area.
Tuesday was the first day that all of the kindergarteners and new students at Markham this year could enter the facility, so they spent the first hour exploring.
Even senior students had to remember how to get to the cafeteria and auditorium, as well as where their new desks and lockers were. The fourth-graders in Tracy Lawrence’s class were eager to use the new art tools and books in the school library.
Our bookcases have been replaced! declared Emelia Tamba, a first-grader, who slid to the ground in a heap with joy. I really enjoy going to the gym. Hold on, mom, we still haven’t explored the art room!
For the first time since the terrible ice storm in January of last year, Markham Elementary School reopened to pupils on Tuesday.Silverman, Julia
According to her mother, Rithy Tamba, the kids fared well with the past year’s uncertainties. According to her, the teaching staff at Markham was consistently helpful and encouraging, and other schools in the Southwest Portland neighborhood were friendly.
However, she noted that the year had been extremely difficult due to the unexpected shift in routine and the uncertainty that came with it, especially organizing the drop-off and pick-up for siblings who were suddenly attending different schools last spring.
Although Markham didn’t undergo the same comprehensive overhaul as the majority of the district’s high schools, parents and educators reported that the school now has new technology and that contractors made accessibility improvements.
According to Nicole Knudsen Mathews, whose son is in third grade, the adversity strengthened the bonds within the already close-knit group. She claimed that she became more interested in the PTA after observing how the school’s instructors, parents, administration, and students dealt with the uncertainty.
According to Knudsen-Mathews, the staff and teachers have been the heroes. After losing their teaching supplies, they were forced to change course and pack up their classrooms. They were present to welcome the children and offer academic support at every new move. Stability in the classroom was crucial during this turbulent time.
On the west side of Portland, Markham is the most diverse elementary school. There are roughly 15% Black kids, 11% Latino students, and 11% multiracial students.
Markham’s overall enrollment appears to have suffered as a result of the prolonged shutdown and location changes, according to fall enrollment figures. Markham had 402 students enrolled in the fall of 2023; this fall’s enrollment is only 341 students, a 15% decrease.
Julia Silverman writes for The Oregonian/OregonLive about K–12 education. You can contact her at [email protected].
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