All hands on deck as Bishop Feild rushes to get ready for move to School for the Deaf

It's gearing up to be a hectic 24 hours for students, parents and faculty of Bishop Feild School in St. John's.

• Bishop Feild Elementary shut down after concrete collapses from gym ceiling
• No hint of problems before ceiling collapse at Bishop Feild, school district says

Class will resume for students at the former School for the Deaf location off Topsail Road on Tuesday, but there's still a lot of work to be done to get classrooms ready for the move.

"This school, we're lucky that it's available and it's ready to go at such short notice, but every room is four walls, that's it," says school council chair Brad Stone.

"Basically we're going into an empty shell of a building and have to put every single scrap in there."

Last week, a ceiling collapsed inside the gymnasium of the 89-year-old facility on Bond Street, leading to a week of missed classes and a desperate search for a new home for the students.

Now, parents are banding together to help out teachers and faculty to ensure that the school will be stocked and ready to open by Tuesday.

"To have everything completely set up, it's quite a monumental task," said Stone.

"Starting Monday from 10 to 3:30 there's going to be a number of parent volunteers coming to the school providing as much help as they can to get things set up for Tuesday."

He's confident, however, that they will finish the necessary work.

"We'll be able to pull it together. It's going to be a challenge, but it will be done."

Students being bused to new school

The transition to a new building in a different area of the city will be an adjustment for many of the kids at the elementary school.

"Many have never been on a bus before, and now they have to adjust to that," said Stone.

Some students with autism, anxiety disorders or ADHD may also have difficulties in the new environment, he added.

"There are a lot of kids who are going to have some issues transitioning but at the school they're doing all they can to make that as easy as possible."

Linda Nicklassen, whose son goes to Bishop Feild, says the move to Topsail Road will make it difficult to respond if her son is in crisis or feeling ill.

"My husband works. I don't drive. Now to have to travel all the way over to Tospail Road?" she said. "If he gets sick I either have to rely on city transit, where I could be waiting an hour for a bus, or have to get a costly cab to get over to my son."

Event to show support set for this week

The convenience of a school centrally located in St. John's will be missed, says Nicklassen.

As of last week, the province's English School District plans to have students back in Bishop Feild School in January, but right now the district is still assessing the damage. 

Nicklassen is hoping Bishop Feild will be reopened as soon as possible but is not optimistic.

"Personally, I will be surprised if they do reopen it."

But Stone told CBC News on Sunday that he and other parents plan to fight to see the school preserved and reopened. 

"We're still waiting on the official report from the engineer on what's involved in repairing the school but we will be back. I guarantee we will be back in the school," he said. 

The school is a neighbourhood hub, not just a building, said Stone. 

"We all know each other. We all know the kids. We all know the staff and it's a beautiful community school." 

A gathering is being tentatively planned for later this week to show support for repairing and fixing the school.

"They want to show that love, show that support, and let people know that we want to be back in that school as soon as possible," said Stone.