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Rebuilt Stoner Creek Elementary opens in Mt. Juliet nearly three years after tornado





Andrea Berkovsky said she told herself she wouldn’t cry as she accompanied her daughter to the opening of the rebuilt Stoner Creek Elementary School in Mt. Juliet on Monday, but the tears started to form outside of the school.

“It’s a little emotional,” she said.

The tears came at the end of 1,000 days that were filled with heartache, uncertainty and hope for the Stoner Creek community after an overnight tornado destroyed the former school building as it ripped through Wilson County on March 3, 2020.

The fatal tornado also heavily damaged West Wilson Middle School, which shares a campus with Stoner Creek along N. Mt. Juliet Road. Two weeks after the tornado, the 2019-2020 school year was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kaylee Berkovsky was in first grade in 2020 and said she remembers the end of the final day of classes in the former Stoner Creek building.

“I just remember my teacher saying, ‘Bye. See you tomorrow.’ Little did she know, we wouldn’t be going back,” she said.

Stoner Creek Principal Amanda Smith opened the doors to the new 116,065-square-foot facility Monday morning and welcomed the 756 students and their parents, who filled the school similar to the first day of a typical school year.

Some parents cried, while others admired the new facility. Students scurried to find their new classrooms, which some of the school’s 54 teachers waiting at the doors to greet them.

People took pictures and videos of the facility, which took about 18 months to build after nearly a year of negotiations for insurance payments.

“There’s definitely an overwhelming sense of emotions. Driving in this morning, I was just in tears thinking about how excited I was for this day and to see the parents and students walk in for the first time,” Smith said.

Over the past nearly three years, about 1,700 students and 150 staff members from Stoner Creek and West Wilson shifted to different locations in the county, including Mt. Juliet Middle.

“It’s such an exciting day for the entire Stoner Creek Elementary family. They’ve been so strong and resilient through this whole process,” WCS Director of Schools Jeff Luttrell said. “This day has been highly anticipated for a long time, and we’re so glad it has finally arrived for this school. We can’t wait to see it create new and wonderful memories. We’re so thankful for the community and their support as well.”

In August, Stoner Creek students and staff moved back on campus, using 10 portable classrooms and part of West Wilson Middle that had little tornado damage for classes. Construction has begun to rebuild West Wilson and that school is expected to be ready for classes in 2024.

Despite the movements, Stoner Creek recently was named a Reward School for the 2020-21 school year by the Tennessee Department of Education.

“I think today is going to be pure magical for them, just because they have been away for 1,000 days from the place they called home,” Smith said. “Just being able to operate a normal school schedule is exciting for them, as well as having space. I hear them say, ‘Look at all of this space we have.’ ”

The $30 million building, which resembles some of the county’s more recently built schools, includes 46 classrooms, art room, music room, media center, dining room, 16,4000-square-foot gymnasium with a stage and a new playground area, which students have been without during the rebuilding process.

The school has space for about 1,000 students.

“Now, having the new school, it’s kind of like a sigh of relief. After everything we’ve been through, we can really have a place to call ‘our school,’ ” Kaylee Berkovsky said.

The slogan “Stoner Creek Strong” — which Smith said represents what the Stoner Creek community has been through and what it can accomplish in the future — is painted on one of the gymnasium walls,

“Life throws storms your way, and you never really understand or realize what you can overcome until you’re hit with those storms. These teachers, the community, the students and everybody just rallying together to help us have the courage, perseverance and just be able to get through each and every day has meant a lot,” Smith said. “Stoner Creek Strong just means to us that we can do anything we set our mind to do because together we are stronger and we can do great things.”

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