Nearly a year after a tornado tore through the Perryville High School campus, students and teachers are finally beginning to find their way back to familiar ground.
This semester, band, choir, and science classes have moved back into repaired sections of the main building, a welcome change after months of learning in temporary classrooms set up following the March 2025 storm.
The tornado, which struck the campus during severe weather that swept across the region, damaged large portions of the high school, forcing many classes into modular units and other temporary spaces while crews began the long process of cleanup, mitigation, and rebuilding. In the months since, district officials have provided regular updates on repairs, structural testing, and plans for the future of the campus.
Principal Shadrick Shafer said some of the original classrooms were able to reopen sooner because they sustained less damage.
“This particular part of the building received less damage, and so after a lot of mitigation and testing of every type, they’ve determined it safe for students to get back again for this semester,” Shafer said in an interview with KFVS News.
For students, the return has brought a sense of stability that has been missing since the tornado forced everyone into unfamiliar spaces.
Senior Olivia Iffert, a member of the Perryville High School band, said the constant room changes were difficult, but they also brought classmates closer together.
“I think because of so many location changes, all of us have kind of just been like, well, this kind of sucks, but we are in this together," Iffert told KFVS News.
Teachers, too, are feeling the difference. Laura Ernst said the temporary classrooms made it harder to move around and give students individual attention.
“I really missed having space,” Ernst said in an interview with KFVS. “It was really tight, and it’s nice being able to go to the tables and actually help kids again instead of having to teach from far away.”
Despite the damage caused by the storm, Shafer said the school district was able to return to classes relatively quickly, missing just 12 school days after the tornado hit — a point of pride for the staff and the community.
“We have overcome things that, prior to this experience, would have seemed insurmountable,” Shafer said. “It was only possible because of my staff.”
While parts of the building are now back in use, work on the campus is far from finished. In recent months, district leaders have been studying repair options, long-term safety needs, and the possibility of constructing a new high school.
Those plans will take another step forward on Friday, Jan. 17, when the district hosts a community meeting to review design concepts for a new Perryville High School building and gather public input.
For now, though, the return to long-empty classrooms is a meaningful milestone — a sign that, even after one of the most disruptive events in the school’s history, Perryville High School continues to move steadily forward.
