Three years ago when Hurricane Katrina came calling, Brock Elementary School in Slidell was one of her victims. This October, students and faculty will be moving back home.

“I can’t believe it’s been three years,” said Rose Smith, principal of Brock. The 260 students will be returning to their temporary home at St. Tammany Junior High School on the first day of school, Aug. 8.

When renovations and additions are complete at Brock, estimated to be in October, students and faculty will move to their permanent home on Brakefield Street.

Students at Brock Elementary School in Slidell will move back home in October when renovations from damage suffered as a result of Hurricane Katrina will be complete. (Staff Photo by Anne Lautzenheiser)

After Katrina struck, Brock was housed at Florida Avenue Elementary for most of the 2005-2006 school year. In fall of 2006, Brock’s faculty and students moved to St. Tammany Junior High’s campus, only a few blocks from Brock’s permanent campus.

“They have been very nice to us here, treated us very well. Of course, it’s some of our former students, they’re just older,” said Smith.

Smith is a veteran administrator, serving nine years as Brock’s principal and four at Slidell Pathways before that. Despite the changes that will come when the school changes campuses in the fall, Smith said, “We’ll do what we do best, educate the children in our district. We anticipate a smooth transition to our original campus.”

The school consists of pre-kindergarten through fifth grades. Smith said she has retained most of her pre-Katrina faculty but lost one to retirement.

Smith said the school has operated well from the temporary facilities, and “we anticipate another good start of school and transition to our original school when reconstruction is complete.”

Before Katrina, Brock was being considered for use as a School Board facility.

Abney Elementary was overcrowded, and there were plans to build a new elementary school. After Katrina hit, plans for a new school to ease overcrowding in Abney Elementary were no longer appropriate.

The school has historical significance, but after floodwaters receded, the school’s future was in question. It was over 50 percent damaged, but due to its historic value, the School Board decided to renovate the building for use as a school, adding classrooms for the future.

The bid to restore Brock Elementary was approved by the St. Tammany Parish School Board in June 2007. At that time, Superintendent Gayle Sloan said the school has historical significance in the community.

In addition to the new facility, the School Board approved the purchase of a lot across the street to be used as a playground in the future.

FEMA determined the historic building was eligible for the national historic register, and as such, must be renovated as is it were already on the register.

FEMA paid most of the cost of the renovation with the 2004 bond issue covering the cost of the additional classrooms. Cost of the project is $8.6 million.