Chester Schools Powered, But Will They Open?

The power may be back, but a return to school for all the students in Chester is not quite a done deal. Superintendent Christina VanWoert said in a letter to parents the final decision won't be made until around 6 p.m. Sunday.

Good Morning.

I wanted to update you on the situation at our three Chester Schools. On Friday, students in grades five through eight triumphantly returned to school thanks to the hard work and dedication of our school staff and administration. Having spent the day there, I can tell you there was so much eagerness and excitement on the part of the students in returning to school and life as usual. At this time, in consultation with the Chester Township Police Department, our Black River Middle School students will have a delayed opening tomorrow. We will return to our normal school schedule on Tuesday.

Power has also been restored to Dickerson and Bragg Schools. Bragg School came on board yesterday afternoon and Dickerson School late last evening. Today we are in the process of checking the systems and the boilers to make sure that they are all operational. It is our firm belief that students at Dickerson and Bragg Schools will also have a delayed opening tomorrow. But, I must confirm this later in the day as we make certain our building systems and boilers are operational. I wanted to give you an opportunity to plan for the day by sending this initial alert. I will send another alert as soon as this is confirmed, but no later than 6:00 p.m. this evening.

Please check the web site as I have posted a number of important details that are too lengthy for this Alert. Once again, I will confirm the opening of Dickerson and Bragg Schools later today. However it is without question that this challenging time is almost over and we will once again have our children back in the normal routines they truly need to feel calm and secure.

Thank you.

Dr. Christina VanWoert

Superintendent of Schools, Chester