TRIBECA — Most students in downtown Manhattan are getting back to school today after power outages from Hurricane Sandy shuttered school buildings last week, and parents said they’re eager to get back to some semblance of a routine.
“We’ve been really isolated,” said Financial District resident Cynthia Savino, whose daughter Lena, 10, was on her way to class at PS 234 on Warren Street, which was back open Monday, though the building is still without heat.
“She’s layered,” Savino said, adding that they aren’t too worried since classrooms in the building tend to be warm anyway. “She’s like, ‘My classroom is usually 80 degrees, so this will be nice.’”
Some students had to be shuffled from their regular classrooms because of damage at the PS 234 Annex, a few doors down from the main building. The Annex is in the same Warren Street building as the Manhattan Downtown Community Center, which suffered extensive damage during last week’s storm.
“It’s like starting school all over again,” said mom Michelle Robinson, whose 6-year-old son Finn’s first grade classroom is in the Annex.
Classes were also starting up again at nearby PS/IS 89 on Warren Street, where third grader Mohamed Keussom, 8, said he was glad to be back after a week off.
“It was pretty boring,” he said.
There were a few hiccups in getting back to business, however.
Throughout the city, a number of schools still without power won’t start up again until Wednesday, and some of will be temporarily relocated to other buildings. Downtown, the Urban Assembly Harbor School on Governor’s Island is scheduled to relocate, and Millennium High School on Broad Street won’t re-open until Wednesday, according to a list on the Department of Education’s website.
On Monday morning, Theresa Lee was waiting with her two children at Warren and Greenwich Streets for a school bus to take them to PS 276 in Battery Park City. It was either late or never came, so she opted to walk instead. She said her oldest child, 7-year-old Tedd, couldn’t wait to be back in the classroom after a week at home.
“He’s school-sick,” she said.
