After Hurricane Isaac passed through the campus of St. Paul’s School on Aug. 29, the SPS community felt relieved to find out that there was not too much damage at the school.

“We just want everyone to say safe,” Assistant Principal Trevor Watkins stated about students and their families regarding the school’s policy towards hurricane preparation.

Whenever there is an approaching storm, Watkins and other administrators monitor the storm’s whereabouts, following the already incorporated guidelines set by the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Watkins noted that he and the administrators did not want to “jump the gun” and close school too early, but they also wanted to allot enough time for students and their families to prepare their households and themselves for the inclement weather that could occur.

“I did,” Watkins stated about staying on campus during the storm. He wanted to be here to experience everything Isaac could bring upon the school. Before the storm hit, Watkins went around the campus and secured all objects that could possibly become projectiles.

According to Watkins, once students returned, many noticed the very large live oak tree that had fallen near the administration building. The tree turned out to be dying and rotten in the middle. The wind and inundating rain caused the tree to fall. The massive tree did not cause damage to any school property and was promptly removed.

Once the storm had passed, Watkins was pleased to find out that there was minimal damage around campus. Apparently, there were primarily many fallen branches spread throughout grounds. The debris was cleaned up on the Saturday following the storm. Students were notified that they could come to school for a few hours and clean up, earning service hours. Watkins and other administrators are very grateful for these students who were kind enough to sacrifice a few hours of their time when they did not have to.

Watkins hopes that during the remainder of this hurricane season, there will be no storms causing school to be out and to disarray our community.