Mae’s will return bigger and better

Mar 07, 2025 News

…Principal says operations will temporarily shift to GIA building

By Francwa Fortune

Kaieteur News- One day after fire destroyed Mae’s School in Subryanville, Georgetown, the Principal l Lucinda McCurdy said the institution will rise from the ashes, bigger and better.

Principal of Mae’s School, Lucinda McCurdy addressing parents on the way forward

McCurdy also said that the operations of the school will shift temporarily to the Georgetown International Academy (GIA) building located on Delhi Street, Prasad Nagar.

McCurdy along with the school’s deputy, Karen Been, the owner David Sugrim and his wife held a meeting on Thursday with parents and teachers informing them on the way forward. The meeting was held at a playground opposite the school.

The principal opened the meeting by expressing thanks to the parents, teachers and the Government of Guyana for their support. She went on to state that having examined a few options for a temporary home for the students, they have decided on Georgetown International Academy building.

Classes will commence on March 17, 2025 after the cleaning process is completed. She expressed that the students would not be academically-unoccupied and that they will commence online classes from next week March 10, 2025 as they wait on the finalisation from the legal department at GIA. The parents were informed that the Government of Guyana has promised to assist the school by providing new text books for the students and to assist in the cleaning up of the school site. This, she said will only commence after the school receives reports from the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF). McCurdy assured the parents and staff that as soon as the cleanup exercise is completed, they will begin construction of the new school.

Parents of children attending Mae’s School during a meeting with the school administrators on Thursday

At the meeting, parents were given the opportunity to air their concerns, many of whom spoke about the temporary facility being in poor shape to accommodate the students. The principal however, reassured the parents that the building is safe and that they are working to make sure all safety protocols are observed before they enter the space. “I can assure you that we have met with their team and their building is very good,” said the principal.

One parent asked “based on the press release I saw that the GIA can only accommodate 350 students, will all the students fit at that one location and will it be a fire hazard?” Principal McCurdy informed that the classrooms are large and will accommodate all the students. McCurdy also told the parents that moving forward, new measures will be put in place to make sure parents are adequately informed about any emergency, and a new approach will be taken in all aspect of the school.

For his part, Sugrim concluded the meeting with expressing thanks to the parents, teacher and the Government for their support, noting that the school will be coming back bigger and better while maintaining its stellar reputation.

Meanwhile, Fire Chief, Gregory Wickham on the sidelines of the Guyana Prison Service Officers Conference on Thursday stated that the Fire Service responded after receiving the call about the fire. He added that when they received the call, they noticed smoke coming from the direction of the school and on arrival, the building was ablaze. He added that there was a total of 10 fire tenders on the fire ground which included two of their most significant equipment which was the Bronto skylift that allowed the firefighters to have aerial capacity to fight the fire.

Wickham expressed thanks to the Sheriff Security Services and Banks DIH who assisted the GFS with their water tenders. The additional assistance allowed them to surround the fire and prevent it from spreading onto other nearby structures. As a result, only one structure was completely destroyed and three nearby structures were severely damaged internally. He also commended members of the public who played their part as well and the staff of the school who did an excellent job with the evacuation process.

(Mae’s will return bigger and better)

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