Students, families tour rebuilt Marysville School
PORTLAND, Ore. – Many families in Southeast Portland learned to live without their local school for more than three years.
Friday night, they learned what it was like to have it back.
Families got to preview what’s in store for students Monday morning, when school bells will ring at the new Marysville School for the first time in three years.
“I feel like I’m home,” said Diana Christianson, who’s worked at Marysville for 22 years.
In 2009, a fire ripped through the school, destroying much of the building. Firefighters were never able to figure out how it started.
Most students had to take a five-mile bus ride to the old Rose City Park School.
In 2011, Portland Public Schools decided to rebuild and upgrade the Marysville campus.
Monday, Marysville students will be back where they belong.
“I think it’s important to the kids,” said Christianson. “They feel an attachment to the building, the teachers and the community.”
Donnie Wilson was in third grade when the fire forced her to flee. She said she’s dreamed of returning to her school for three years. Monday she will resume her classes as a sixth grader.
“This is my old classroom in third grade,” she said as she toured the new hallways.
She’s returning to a building that’s changed – A new library, new gym and a new sprinkler system that wasn’t there before the fire gutted the building.
“Every building new and old should be updated and have a sprinkler system,” said Amber Wilson, Donnie’s mother.
Amber Wilson said her favorite part about the new building is the location: Just a block and a half away from home.
“I miss walking her to school,” said Wilson. “It’s where Marysville is meant to be. Not five miles away.”
From the KATU Archives - November, 2009
Total waste of money!! The students were fine using the old Rose City Park school. So way to go, City of Portland. You throw money into a school that you easily could have torn down for a lot less money, and now, another school will sit empty and unused while someone has to pay for it.Â
I'll bet it's full of nice new computers
to further numb the minds of the impressionable.
 @Mipsfer Computers in elementary schools are typically used for things like typing reports, doing research, etc. Where we used to use microfiche, encyclopedias, etc. for our research, that material is all now online in various databases that schools, colleges, and universities subscribe to.
Should've made it into a brewpub hotel with video poker, then they wouldn't need these phoney baloney crying for the kids tax votes to fund the PERS.
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According to the article, they have learned to live without their local school.  How many other Money Pits can we learn to live without?
Wow, 3 plus years to repair/rebuild  the structure(s)Â
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Can't tell govt. wasn't involved with that process LOL
 @kramr A lot of it was because of not enough funding. The insurance payment wasn't enough for the work that needed to be done. They had to wait until additional funding was approved by the voters, if I remember correctly. Then they were able to do everything that needed to be done.
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Often times insurance payments only cover what was there, not anything that needs to be added to the building to make it meet newer codes for upgraded/rebuilt/new buildings.
 @kramrÂ
That was my thought also.