Evacuees Start School In Town
Evacuees Start School In Town
September 9, 2005
by Keach Hagey
No one would have known from looking at Matthew, Hayes and Lily Saer on the first day of school yesterday that their plaid and khaki Stanwich School uniforms were among the few clothes they had.
The siblings, 12-year-old twins and their 10-year-old little sister, fled from their native New Orleans to Houston a week and a half ago to avoid Hurricane Katrina's wrath, along with their baby brother, parents and dog.
After learning that the levees had broken and the family would need a solution for the longer term, their father, Robert Saer, contacted his brother and sister-in-law, John and Shelby Saer of Greenwich, whose three children attend Stanwich School. Shelby Saer asked the school's headmistress, Pat Young, if the school could accommodate her niece and nephews.
"She didn't hesitate," Shelby Saer said. "The response was fabulous."
The Saers are among 20 hurricane evacuees now enrolled in Greenwich private schools; five others are enrolled in the town's public schools.
Their mother, Katherine Saer, was overwhelmed by the response, both from the school itself and its community of parents and students, who donated uniforms, brought over food and called to schedule play dates with her children in the days before school started yesterday.
"I wore mascara yesterday for the first time because I thought I might not cry," Katherine Saer said.
She is also glad that her children can attend the fifth and
seventh grade alongside their cousins at the kindergarten-through-ninth grade
private school, which is similar in size and culture to the Metairie Park Country
Day School they attended in their hometown, she said.
Thomas Saer was enrolled in the Putnam Indian Field School, where his cousins
attended preschool.
The greatest number of the town's hurricane refugees are enrolled at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, which opened its doors to refugees from its sister school, the Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans. So far, 13 girls - many with family members - have taken them up on the offer, and the school expects a few more in the next week, according to spokeswoman Kathy Failla.
The girls are placed with Sacred Heart families, 80 of whom have offered their homes to the refugees after the school's headmistress sent out letters asking for help. Six of the girls are in 10th grade, two in eighth, two in seventh, and one each in sixth grade, second grade and kindergarten. The refugees include three sets of sisters, Failla said.
Greenwich Catholic School, which started classes Aug. 31, has
also been working with one family from New Orleans, school officials said.
In addition to the Saer children, Stanwich has accepted another set of siblings,
Liam O'Neil, 11, and Sean O'Neil, 5.
None of the other private schools have received evacuees, although Greenwich Country Day School is listed on the National Association of Independent Schools list of possible destinations for refugees, according to spokeswoman Andrea Hawkins.
Jeff Harris, director of admissions for Brunswick School, said the school had received a few inquiries about evacuees interested in placing children in the lower school, but was unable to accommodate them because the small classes of 16 to 17 students would be too disrupted by an additional student. The school is opening its doors to middle and upper school students, however, via the NAIS Web site.
The Greenwich Public Schools have accepted five children from three families, but will not release any more information about them, said John Curtin, assistant superintendent for curriculum, research and evaluation.
The district is being flexible with some of the red tape normally involved in enrolling new students, understanding that the evacuees may not have birth certificates or school records, he added.
Tuition at the private schools is another area where administrators are being flexible. The schools and the evacuees all said they would work out that issue later, and that getting the children into school as soon as possible was their first concern.
Meanwhile, things are lively at the Saer household, with Shelby Saer's mother and her best friend, both New Orleans natives, staying with them as well.
"It certainly brings a closeness that comes about in times of crisis," said Jo Gwin Shelby, Shelby Saer's mother. "You learn to certainly appreciate family and friends. The people of Greenwich have been so open and warm and welcoming and helpful. It's heartwarming to know that people are interested in helping. They may have felt something similar to what happened on 9/11."