Providence Journal March 31, 2010

By Richard Dujardin

R.I. Islamic School flooded; classes postponed indefinitely

WEST WARWICK, R.I. -- With chest-deep water engulfing the school's first floor, the Islamic School of Rhode Island at 840 Providence St. announced Wednesday that it will have to suspend classes for its 130 students, at least until a new facility can be found.

 

Jennifer Eid, the school's founder, said water inside the building, which formerly housed Sacred Heart parochial school, had reached the bottom of the first-floor windows, though the waters started to recede slightly on Wednesday afternoon.

"We've lost thousands of dollars in books and technology equipment," said Eid, now an administrator at the school. "Our computers, our media equipment, fax and copying machines and phones are all under water as well as the server for the files for the school. The classrooms for the pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade, our main office, teachers room and cafeteria are under water."

Eid said the school board was meeting on Wednesday to consider moving the student body, including those in the school's second through eighth grades, to a new location so they can continue educating students as quickly as possible. "Our students come from all over Rhode Island as well as Connecticut and Massachusetts and quite a number of families have been affected by the flood."

Eid said the flood has also severely affected many of the school's neighbors, including the neighboring Sacred Heart Church, whose parish hall on the first floor is now filled with water. She said the car belonging to Sacred Heart's pastor, the Rev. Richard A. Bucci, is "completely under."

"If we all pull together as a community, we can get through this," she said