Due to a fire in the Woodshop and a simultaneous burst pipe in the ceiling near the Student Activities Center (SAC), school was cancelled after Block 1 on Dec. 2, Principal Dr. Barbara Georges said.

Responding with two fire trucks, the Glenview Fire Department was quickly able to extinguish the fire, Georges said. This fire is not as extensive as the 2023 fire, and it was contained in a small area, she explained. The Woodshop has already reopened, as has the SAC hallway, she added.

“Overall, students and staff had a great response to the emergency,” Georges said. “I appreciate [that] everyone did their best under challenging conditions. I am proud of the Titans I saw sharing sweatshirts or letting more vulnerable classmates enter the building ahead of them.”

However, cancelling school in the middle of the day caused its own problems, Georges said. South needed to schedule buses to take students home, as well as coordinate student release to reduce traffic congestion, she added.

“The bus company needed to call in drivers that did not know our routes, and bus loading had to take place in a different area due to fire equipment in the normal bus lanes,” Georges said.

Additionally, as students lost most of their Gold day on Dec 2., South is looking for ways to fill that gap, Georges said. South’s cabinet team reviewed a teacher’s request to change the extra blue day after winter break to a gold day, but decided against it, she explained.

With each emergency, the Administration is always learning how to respond better to any future situations, Georges said.