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Schools

Sandidge Halls Look Familiar to Memorial Students

Transportation issues aside, Memorial School students and parents say they feel right at home at Sandidge while their school is being renovated.

Sandidge may not be Memorial, but it sure looks and feels like it, parents and administrators said. 

School officials called the construction strike-provoked transition from Memorial School to Sandidge School "seamless."

"The kids love it because it looks like Memorial inside," said curriculum coordinator Nancy Schwab. "In fact, the children are calling it 'Memorial at Sandidge' or 'North Memorial.' It's been wonderful."

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A strike by construction workers in the Laborer's Union and Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers led to a halt in the renovation of Memorial at 6701 W. 179th St.

Three hundred elementary students from Tinley Park, Orland Park and Oak Forest were temporarily transferred from Memorial to the conveniently empty Sandidge, 13 blocks to the north on 66th Avenue.

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Sandidge had been sitting empty since the end of the 2008-2009 school year. That fall, the student body became part of the first class at the new Fulton School built to replace Sandidge and the old Fulton.

Schwab was not the only one to experience déjà vu inside Sandidge. Memorial parent Colette Olson noticed the similarities, too.

"The school is basically the same inside," said Olson, whose son, Tyler, is in fourth grade.

Memorial Principal Susan Mulchrone said the students will be seeing the inside of Sandidge for the rest of the school year.

"There were a lot of parents and staff members in favor of staying for the whole school year," Mulchrone said. "So we'll be here."

No other construction projects in Tinley Park were affected by the strike. The unions reached a deal July 19, but the Memorial School renovation will not be completed until November, about three months after the original deadline. 

"I think it's a great community and everyone has pulled together," Mulchrone said. "The staff has been really good making the transition easier for the students and the parents."

Olson said the distance from home could be problematic, but overall the transition has been smooth. Bus service is available to her area, but Olson said she has chosen not to use it.

"Since I live all the way over by Memorial, I have to drive him every day," Olson said. "The first week was hectic, and it's still a little iffy, but it's gone well."

 

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