All high school students should report to school Monday by 8:20 a.m. and go to their Crew classrooms. At 8:30 a.m., students will proceed to first period.
Juniors and seniors were scheduled to attend today for the final day of the three-day staggered start, during which they would have received IDs, reviewed policies and visited their classes briefly.
The change to the Monday schedule is necessary because of today’s school closure, caused by storm damage that occurred just after midnight.
“Superintendent Dr. David Glasner made the decision to close the District after he and Mayor David Weiss toured the community before dawn,” Executive Director of Communications and Engagement Scott Stephens said in an email. “They observed numerous downed branches and power lines, road closures, power outages and limited access to some schools.”
The district informed families of the closure with a phone call, a message on shaker.org and a 5:08 a.m. text message. “Due to storm damage, all Shaker Heights schools & offices will be closed on Friday, 8/25. For more info as the cleanup continues, please see shaker.org,” the text stated.
According to the FirstEnergy Storm Center, 4,151 customers in Shaker are affected by power outages due to the storm. Mercer and Lomond elementary schools were also without power, according to Stephens. The outages also disabled some traffic lights, including those at the intersection of South Woodland and Green Road. FirstEnergy estimates that power will be restored by Aug. 30.
Back-to-school events tonight at Lomond, Onaway and Fernway elementary schools were canceled as well. The event at Lomond — the Blacktop Bash — was rescheduled for Sept. 1. Onaway and Fernway have not set new dates for their events.
Woodbury’s Coffee on the Lawn parent event, which was supposed to take place this morning, was rescheduled for Aug. 31.
The varsity football game against Brush High School will take place at 7 p.m. as originally scheduled. “After consulting with the police department and the South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District, we determined that there was no reason not to play the varsity football game tonight,” Stephens said. “Brush, like us, did not have school today due to the storms.”
The district update also stated that “SAT testing scheduled for Saturday, August 26, at Shaker Heights High School will proceed as planned.”
During the storm, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Cuyahoga County. Senior Shelby McBee said she was preparing to go to sleep when the alarm sounded. “I went to the staircase to check on my parents, and before I could get a reply, the power cut off,” she said in a text message.
The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes touched down in Cleveland and Mentor, damaging buildings and knocking down trees. It also removed the roof of a 143-year-old church on Euclid Avenue.
McBee and her parents sheltered in a first-floor bedroom until the storm cleared, asking each other ‘Would you rather’ questions to stay calm. “I was anxious because of the power outage, and there weren’t any street lights. Then, my anxiousness turned into being scared,” McBee said. “We called relatives to check in on them as well.”
The Shakerite will continue to cover this story as it develops.
