MACON, Ga. — Overnight storms and high winds knocked out the power to Rosa Taylor Elementary School early Tuesday morning.
They sent out an announcement to all students and families around 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning telling families that they will be closed Tuesday. Now that the power's been restored, students are set to be heading back to the classroom.
"We just went ahead and communicated that the school would be closed for the day just for the safety of all," LaShonda Gilbert, principal of Rosa Taylor Elementary, said.
Gilbert went over the decision-making process when it came to closing the school for the day.
“Once everyone found out about it, we went ahead and spoke with our chief of staff and the superintendent of schools as well as our operations manager just to make sure that we didn’t have power and that we didn’t have a good estimated time for it to be safe for students and staff to arrive into the building,” Gilbert said.
This also isn’t the first time Rosa Taylor Elementary has been affected by severe weather, but communication is key.
The Denson family has had students at the school for two years, and they appreciate the safety measures that have been put into place.
“They actually were right on top of it," Daryl Denson said, "They notified us before, I think it was right at 7 a.m. or shortly thereafter 7 a.m.? They are always pushing that communication layer. If something’s going on with our students here or any of the other students for that matter, they ensure to keep all the parents and volunteers informed so it’s really good for us”
Now that the storm has passed and the power has been restored, school staff and neighbors were seen cleaning up debris and damage, ready to get back on track for the school semester.
“Communication and community and then them being kind of right here in the heart of Wimbish Hills is vastly important and they take advantage of the opportunity a lot so it's good," Denson said.
With all of the community's support, Gilbert says that she is lucky.
“We're in such a great location," Gilbert said. "We call it a hidden gem and we always feel the love from the community.”