Three Dallas ISD elementary campuses -- Burnet, Cigarroa, and Pershing -- returned to class Wednesday, but in a makeshift school at Loos Athletic Stadium.
Teachers from the three schools first walked in Tuesday night to pick a corner of the stadium for their classroom.
Pershing Principal Lourdes Morales said those teachers quickly and fittingly became a team, working together to be one campus, temporarily.
They brought busses, books and big screens.
Adan Sanchez brought his TV from home. He connected it to his laptop and just like that, he had a smart board for math class.
"I think we need to keep moving forward and teaching that's what we need to do," said Sanchez.
There are 1,000 kids all trying to learn here with no walls.
"We don't care if there are no desks or no classrooms, we just want to do work and stuff," said one student.
It wasn't just academics, counselors were in hand and they were learning about life from their principal who grew up in Puerto Rico.
"I do know hurricanes well. I've been through a couple of them," said Morales.
"I lost a person I love during (Hurricane) Maria, My dad"
Right there on the bleachers. They shared love, lunch, and a big lesso on how to bounce back.
The three schools being housed at Loos weren't significantly damaged, but are waiting for all clears from engineers and inspectors.
They hope to be back to normal by Monday at the latest.
On Monday, DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said two campuses, Walnut Hill Elementary School and Cary Middle School, are a total loss and will need to be rebuilt.
Hinojosa said Monday Thomas Jefferson High School will be uninhabitable through at least the end of the school year. He said he hoped students could return to Jefferson by August.
For a detailed list of those affected campuses, click here. The district says you can make a monetary donations through the Dallas Education Foundation by clicking here. Gift cards, preferably in $25–$30 increments, are also being accepted. Mail the gift card to 9400 N. Central Expressway, Box 21. For questions about gift card donations, please call 972-925-5440.
The district is also accepting small boxes of new school supplies, which can be dropped off at the three following locations Monday–Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy, 1700 E. Camp Wisdom Road
- Turney W. Leonard Training Center, 5151 Samuel Blvd
- One Center at Linus Wright Administration Building, 9400 N. Central Expressway, first floor
