Southgate Rippetoe Elementary 1 Year After Tornadoes Destroyed Parts Of The School

Construction is still going on at Southgate Rippetoe Elementary School, one year after a tornado ripped off their roof and damaged much of the building.

The school is located near NW 5th and Janeway. The district had to replace the roof and six classrooms that were destroyed in the tornado. They are also adding a FEMA-rated storm shelter that can fit all of the students, faculty and staff inside.

Construction crews have been hard at work here for the past eight months. They have another six weeks or so to go before it is all done. But the new classrooms and storm shelter are really taking shape, and should bring peace of mind for when the next big storm hits.

"This entire wing is brand new. This whole area was completely destroyed and leveled, so it's amazing to see walls back," said Dustin Horstkoetter with Moore Public Schools.

The school had to move to nearby Emmaus Baptist church to finish out classes. But this school year they were back in class learning while the improvements were being made to their building.

"We've got our school that's been refurbished, everything is new," said Neal Johnson, who has been principal at Southgate-Rippetoe elementary for the past 3 years. "It's one of our original schools; the second oldest in Moore."

The new part of the building is where the new storm shelter is going in, and will combine four of the new classrooms. Construction crews are using structural steel on the inside and then using cast-in-place concrete on the outside to make it even more structurally sound than before.

"There's a peace of mind with our parents and our students and teachers with a place they know they can shelter and be safe," said Johnson.

Southgate-Rippetoe is one of the first five elementary schools in Moore to get a storm shelter built on site. And in the next 5 years, the district hopes to have storm shelters in every Moore public school facility in the city. It is being paid for with the bond passed last October.