'One for the ages:' How MASE found its new home after pipes burst
For Rodrick Gaston, Christmas 2022 had been pleasant. His mother had cooked him and his sisters a traditional holiday meal. They had exchanged gifts. And he was looking forward to the fast-approaching spring semester of the charter school he led, the Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering.
But about 7 p.m. that night, Gaston got an urgent, unexpected phone call from his building engineer, Michael Meeks.
“Mr. Gaston, you need to come to the school,” Meeks said. “It doesn’t look good.”
Gaston left his family and rushed to MASE’s campus, where firefighters had already arrived. The sixth-to-twelfth grade school leased three buildings owned by Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church; and in its primary facility, freezing temperatures had caused an array of pipes in the roof to burst. Water had then plunged onto the buildings’ two floors, with around seven feet of it settling in the basement.
Gaston couldn’t immediately get into the facility, as the firefighters told him wasn’t safe. But he didn’t need to step inside to know the seriousness of the situation. He could see water gushing through the drains ― it sounded like a waterfall.
And as he stood and stared at the school on that cold Christmas night, he began to pray.
“Lord, whatever it is,” he said, “See it through for us.”
'Like a tornado'
When Gaston walked through the building the next day, he saw the full extent of the damage.
Ceiling tiles had collapsed on the floor. Classrooms were ruined. Computers were kaput.
“I didn't know water could do so much damage. But I learned,” Gaston said. “It looked like a tornado had hit the building.”
MASE’s other two buildings ― which housed its sixth graders and the bulk of its high school classes ― remained in good condition. But this one had held the seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms, the cafeteria for seventh-through-twelfth graders, some high school classes, the main office, and Gaston’s office. It was a necessity.
Now, it was seemingly unusable, and students were slated to return for the spring semester in a week. Gaston and his team needed to find a solution. And they needed to do it fast.
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No excuses, just action
Then they remembered that Northwest Prep Academy had recently moved out of the old, sprawling building across the street, at 1266 Poplar Ave. The facility ― which was owned by Memphis-Shelby County Schools ― had housed a variety of schools since its completion in the late 1920s, and MASE’s leaders had long hoped they could one day move into the space.
It seemed like a viable solution to a major problem, so MASE got permission to temporarily move its displaced classes and services into a portion of the building. The sixth-grade classes and the bulk of high school classes would remain in the two intact buildings on the original campus, while the seventh- and eighth-grade classes and some high school classes would be held across the street. MASE would also use the new location’s cafeteria and its primary gym.
The plan seemed solid, and Gaston waved off suggestions to delay the start of the semester, confident they could be ready. But it was one thing to create a plan and another thing to be ready to implement it ― especially in a week.
Divvying up a school on either side of one of the busiest streets in Memphis caused logistical challenges, as some students would need to go to both locations and having them continuously walk back and forth across Poplar didn’t’ seem safe. MASE had to arrange for buses that would go between the buildings every hour and a half.
Teachers prepared their new classrooms, and those remaining on MASE’s original campus chipped in to help. New technology was ordered. Prior to the start of the semester, a Zoom call was held with parents about the transition.
As they prepared to bring back students, Gaston continued to pray, as he had on Christmas night, asking God to help the school "get through this storm." He worked 18-hour days, and his nights were sleepless ― there was far too much racing through his mind.
"Man, I need a vacation after this," he told himself.
When students came back after a whirlwind of preparation, MASE leaders ran through the details with them, hammering home the importance of safety and using the buses.
The plan worked. After a few first-week kinks, things seemed to go off without a hitch.
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“We could have made a lot of excuses. From parents, to teachers, to the students, nobody made any excuses,” Gaston said. “And after the first week, everything was rolling as smooth as possible.”
Time passed, and MASE got another opportunity from MSCS. With the exception of an annex used by the district’s ROTC officials, MASE was given the green light to take over the building ― and move its entire school over to 1266 Poplar for the 2023-24 academic year.
'A different kind of feeling'
That school year began on Aug. 7, and on Aug. 18, a proud and enthusiastic Gaston gave The Commercial Appeal a tour of the facility. He still hasn't gotten to take that vacation ― relocating the rest of the school proved to be an enormous summer task ― but he said he was thrilled about the change. Right now, MASE is leasing the building from MSCS on a month-to-month basis, but its hope is to sign a long-term lease, at which point it would likely start significantly investing in the space.
The full move comes as MASE, Tennessee’s oldest charter school, celebrates its 20th anniversary. And its new home, constructed nearly 100 years ago, hints at MASE’s potential future while painting the picture of its own past.
Natural light pours through large old windows as students walk through the hallways. A gym that’s used for storage has a shot clock that looks, as Gaston said, like it came straight out of "Hoosiers." But the space could eventually be renovated and hold volleyball practices. A projector and projection screen have been added to an auditorium with faded golden curtains and wooden seats.
And what was once a print shop is being turned into a STEM and robotics lab. To this day, it contains a massive antique camera attached to a darkroom.
Students also seem to relish being in the space. When The CA spoke to MASE students a few weeks ago about their thoughts on the new school year, several noted their excitement about the location.
“A lot of people might say, ‘Oh, this is an old building,’ but our kids ― I’m serious ― they love having this building,” Gaston said. “We're not in three different buildings, we're not doing any transitions. Everybody's here… It’s a different kind of feeling.”
Room for growth
But the facility does more than just bring MASE’s operations under one roof. It gives the school the space to continue growing.
MASE originally started in 2003 with 147 students. Last year, it had 575. And this year, it’s grown that number to over 650, thanks in part to the success of its Find Your Future campaign. The goal is to continue growing by 50 to 75 students a year, but on its old campus across the street, it had been running out of space.
At 1266 Poplar Ave., however, it should have more than enough room to reach its planned max of around 1,000 students.
To some, the bursting of the pipes might even seem fortuitous. After all, MASE had known it would run out of space on its former campus, and long before it made the move out of necessity, it had eyed the property across the street.
So, was Gaston somewhat grateful the pipes had burst?
“In a way, yes,” he replied, laughing. “We always looked across the street and saw this nice, beautiful building. And we said… we would love that building. We didn't know it was going to come in this way. But… I guess it's kind of a good thing too... It's been one for the ages."
John Klyce covers education and children's issues for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at john.klyce@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering found a new home
