‘Resilient and united’ Charlotte Prep looks to rebuild after fire destroys lower school

Teachers huddled in shock Tuesday morning.

A parent and child drove past the charred building in tears.

The close-knit community of Charlotte Preparatory School on Boyce Road in south Charlotte poured out its sorrow after a fire late Monday burned the campus’ lower school to the ground. The charred building serves grades K-3, and the school has students up to eighth grade.

Investigators on Tuesday were still looking for the cause of a fire that drew more than 60 firefighters from across the city. Head of School Chris Marblo called the damage extensive — about $2.5 million — and told parents and staff he hopes to set up temporary lower school classrooms and offices by the start of the school year.

“I always remember the advice of Fred Rogers at times like this,” Marblo wrote in a Facebook post to families Tuesday. “Look for the helpers. We have many of them, and our school will come out of this even stronger.”

The school of about 400 students boasts “an exceptional education for our students in a warm, nurturing environment.” It’s an environment that Marblo promises will be rebuilt.

“Our school community is resilient and united,” he said.

School counselors will be deployed to offer guidance to parents on how to talk about the fire with their children. The hashtags #oneprep and #PrepStrong are circulating on social media because “this amazing community is unlike any other,” Lauren Michelle wrote on Facebook.

Parent Donna Ren was at the school Tuesday.

“We worry about it,” Ren said, “and right now it’s panic. I don’t know what (we should) do.”

Shock and disbelief

It was quiet at the school Tuesday morning. The lower school building was a pile of ash and debris. The smell of burned wood hung in the air. Firefighters remained on scene and cars slowed down to look at the damage.

Most of the faculty and staff who showed up to the school were too shocked to talk.

“We canceled everything,” said Robert Torres, a school maintenance worker. “Everybody is in shock and disbelief.”

People who live near the school on Boyce Road said they heard an explosion around 10 p.m. Monday.

“I thought it was gunshots initially,” Sophia Prendergast told The Charlotte Observer. “And then I just heard one fire truck come after the other, and I was like ‘Whoa, what’s happening?’ I woke up my mom. The whole neighborhood was outside.”

Sophia’s mom, Coleen Prendergast, said neighbors saw a fireball that went higher than the houses.

“It shot up really high,” Coleen Prendergast said. “It was just chaos with firefighters everywhere. …We were hoping that there (weren’t) people inside.”

Marblo confirmed there were no injuries.

Home away from home

Charlotte Prep is a K-8 school founded as Charlotte Montessori School in 1971 near uptown. It moved to 212 Boyce Road in 1992 and added a middle school in 1998 — the same year it changed its name to Charlotte Preparatory School, according to its website.

While the campus is closed and its annual summer Camp Prep has been canceled for the week, Marblo wrote staff members are working to ensure they’re “back on their feet” in time for the start of the school year, which is Aug. 16 for lower and middle school and Aug. 17 for early school.

His Facebook post drew multiple comments from alumni and a fellow private school that said it would help rebuild.

The page for Socrates Academy in Matthews said it hoped to ”support Charlotte Preparatory School as you rebuild and prepare for the fall. We’ll reach out to determine what that looks like for you — whether it’s a book drive or something to ensure you’re ready to open for all your students.”

State Rep. Laura Budd, a Democrat whose south Charlotte district covers the school, also offered encouragement, commenting on Marblo’s post that she was “sending strength as you rebuild in our community! We are here to support you!”

Sophie Weiner, who attended Charlotte Prep and had her kindergarten through third grade classes in the building that burned, said there were so many memories, but “you will build new ones.”

Kimberly Boone Egan wrote that the news “was devastating.”

“Our family spent a total of 15 years at Prep with three kids,” Egan said. “So many wonderful memories there. The (lower school) has always been such a loving and nurturing home away from home for so many families.”