Sixty Years In The Making: Kolter’s Hurricane Recovery

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Sixty Years In The Making: Kolter’s Hurricane RecoveryKolter Elementary2021-03-01T15:05:15+00:00

Kolter Comes Back Home After Hurricane Harvey

We can’t celebrate Kolter’s 60 years of strength and love of community without acknowledging one of its biggest events — Hurricane Harvey. For those new to Kolter, our school’s completed new building marked the end of a three-year journey for Kolter faculty, parents and students, which included a small, interim campus. Harvey might have destroyed our school building, but it never knocked down our spirit!

For more on our inspiring path back home, watch the video and read more below! We are forever Kolter Strong, Houston Proud!

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Home Sweet Home

It’s been a long journey, but Kolter has finally moved into its brand new school! Our original school building was demolished after Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston in late August 2017. For the last three years during our new construction, Kolter’s staff and students were able to remain together at our temporary location at the former Gordon Elementary School in Bellaire. Within days, our amazing Kolter community transformed the vacant campus into our new home. We were extremely grateful to have the interim campus, known as Kolter North, and the support of our school family and community during the process.

Despite having lost everything in our old school, our Kolter teachers and students moved forward and thrived. Kolter PTO, along with many other amazing donors, ensured students, teachers and administration had what they needed to be successful. In these unprecedented situations, you learn if you have the will anything is possible!

Harvey was and still is very personal to us. Kolter is surrounded by the Meyerland neighborhood and it was one of the hardest hit areas of Houston. Hundreds of Kolter’s students’ homes flooded, initially leaving some without shelter and belongings. The HISD staff inside Kolter Elementary during the storm were rescued by helicopter. Some of our students were also rescued from their homes by boat and helicopter. Many of us endured surreal and traumatic events during the storm. But when the sun came out, our principal, vice principals and teachers rallied immediately, helping us clean out our homes and regroup . That’s why, even more so after Harvey, we think of each other as family. We are Kolter Proud, Houston Strong!

A special thank you to HISD Interim Superintendent Dr. Lathan, HISD Construction Services Team, Pfluger Architects, and Satterfield & Pontikes Construction for their hard work, dedication, and leadership in building our new school home. Welcome home, Cougars!