Lincoln Elementary set to reopen for the first time since roof collapsed in May

Lincoln Elementary in Great Falls reopens after roof damage forced the school to relocate.

Great Falls — Lincoln Elementary School is set to reopen Wednesday for the first day after a windstorm tore off part of the roof and forced students and staff to move to other schools last school year.

Following the damage done, students in different grades were split up and sent to separate schools across the district. The staff members also worked in multiple locations, which made it more difficult to keep the school community together.

Principal Stephen Yates said having everyone back in one building changed the feeling going into the school year.

“The nurses and, and our librarians and our gym teachers and all the people that typically would operate just out of one building all had to do it out of three. And so just being back and having those kids makes a big difference. And it’s, I always say that, you go right down the hallways and those are the little kids that, and you’re down there, they’re giving hugs and high fives on the other end. And so missing half of the population was just, it was just weird,” Principal Stephen Yates said.

Repairs to the roof were finished by the end of May, which allowed students and staff to return to campus for the first time since the windstorm.