Hurricane-battered schools in Manchester need support to keep learning uninterrupted

With several of their classrooms and essential infrastructure still in need of repair following the devastating passage of Hurricane Beryl in July, both the Victor Dixon High and New Forest Primary and Infant schools in Manchester are facing challenges maintaining basic operations.

Despite their best efforts to keep learning uninterrupted, the schools urgently need financial support to fully restore their facilities. The category four hurricane left both institutions with significant roof and water damage, reducing space capacity for students and teachers ahead of the new academic year. Ian Newman, teacher and Dean of Discipline at Victor Dixon High School, said approximately 50 percent of the school’s operating spaces were compromised, forcing all activities to the ground level.

“We have tried to commandeer other spaces to assist us in conducting our different classes, particularly for fifth form students,” he said, emphasizing that some lessons are being conducted outdoors, under gazebos, and in the lunchroom because of the limited classroom spaces. “There have been times since the reopening of school where we have had to run from the gazebos outside to get shelter inside and persons had to be standing in the passageway and scampering for other classrooms for teachers to conduct their lessons,” he said.