Private school reopens in downtown Cedar Rapids

The reopening of the Cedar Valley Montessori School is yet another sign of life coming back to downtown Cedar Rapids.

It's attached to the Ground Transportation Center and the only private school in the core of downtown. The Cedar Valley Montessori School's $1.2 million renovation is complete.

A missing piece of the downtown puzzle is now back in place as the Montessori School officially reopens.

“It just feels really good to be home,” Board President Lisa Stephenson said.

Parent Wahneta Dimmer said, “It's really quite emotional to be back down here and see everything rebuilt. It's better than we expected it to be. It's better than we left it before the flood.”

Eight feet of water drowned the school two years ago and destroyed more than three-hundred thousand dollars worth of materials.

“We watch the weather a lot more closely now than we did before the flood,” Stephenson said.

The city has also reinforced the building to help protect it from a future flood. Parents and teachers consider this a new beginning.

“It shows new life here. Young life,” parent Dennis McDermott said. “Education can be right in the heart of our city.”

Not to mention, having school downtown allows teachers to use all the nearby museums and businesses as building blocks for lessons. Plus, the location makes life easier for working parents.

“It makes it very convenient for people who work downtown. It's easily accessible,” Dimmer said.

The first day of school is August 24th. About one-hundred kids attend class there.