It'll come down to the wire but work to repair a school in Sanford should wrap up for the first day of classes in September, according to Scott Thomson, Principal for J.A. Cuddy School. This week marks one year since fire broke out at the school, essentially one week before students returned for the 2016/17 year. This forced administrators to come up with a back-to-school contingency plan, explained Thomson.

"We had to be out of the school for about two-and-a-half months and we were relocated within the community...in a variety of places...and then around November we got back into half of our building...so we squeezed everyone into a little

Work to fix damage from a late summer fire in 2016 is nearly complete at J.A. Cuddy School in Sanford. Photo used with permission.over half of the school for the year. "

He noted that fire repairs to the other half of the school continued throughout the year and should be done by the end of the summer break.

He said that everyone is looking forward to having the entire school open for business in the 2017/18 year, and noted that the hallways are now open and teachers are starting to get into the classrooms.

"This last year we didn't have a library, we didn't have a band room, we didn't have an art room and we were down to classes, and we didn't have Student Services so all of those rooms are brand new...we're going to have access to those rooms this year so we're really excited about that," added Thomson.

He said the year was a long-haul and everyone made the best of the situation.

Meantime, a group from Carman Collegiate, along with members of surrounding communities, teamed up to help meet the need for library services by collecting book donations for the students at J.A. Cuddy School.

Thomson said this allowed the librarian to build up a stock and form a mobile library that travelled to the classrooms and let students sign out books for the week.

"That's what those community members allowed us to be able to do," he added, "It was very appreciated and it was great that so many people across the province stepped up."

Thomson added that a special yearbook of the past year has been made for the students to help them celebrate and remember the accomplishments that were achieved during that uncertain time.