Harmony Heights school in East Norwich, damaged by 2023 fire, is back at full strength
Harmony Heights Principal Tatiana Pejkovic, right, with school board President Denis Garbo and board member Ellen Benson in the refurbished school. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Officials from a therapeutic day school for girls said their East Norwich building is fully operational nearly a year and a half after a fire ravaged the structure, leaving severe damage and displacing the administration.
Educators from the Harmony Heights Residential and Day School said the front portion of their Walnut Avenue building was heavily damaged in the May 2023 fire. About 70 firefighters from multiple departments responded to the overnight blaze before bringing it under control in about an hour, Newsday reported.
The fire severely damaged numerous offices and student spaces. The hallways and classrooms were filled with ash, and graduation pictures displayed on the walls were burned.
School officials said the section of the school that houses administrative offices, counseling and therapeutic facilities, as well as the gymnasium and other services, "incurred significant damage costing in excess of $3 million to restore."
"We were supposed to have our prom the next week," Kathryn Nastri, the school’s executive director emeritus, recalled.
She remembered having to pull items out of the building "hours after the fire was out to air them out on the front lawn, so hopefully we could still use them."
Theresa Cherba, the school’s director of human relations, said the fire originated near the school's front door in a space where students go when they need to regroup. The cause of the fire was not found, she said.
Students and staff went remote for the rest of the school year and during a six-week summer course.
They returned to the building for the next school year, but administrators, therapists and other staff worked out of three trailers in the parking lot while the front of the building was being remodeled, officials said. The school was insured, they said.
"We had a loss of students because we had to go remote for a while," said the school’s principal, Tatiana Pejkovic. "It definitely had a large impact on stress levels of our staff."
The school has a capacity for 80 students. At the time of the fire, enrollment was about 65 students, but now it’s around 56, Cherba said. The school serves girls in grades 8 to 12, who are classified as emotionally disturbed or have other health impairments, according to the school’s website. The school tuition is often paid by the student’s home-school district, which refers the student to Harmony Heights.
Pejkovic said that in all kinds of weather, staff and students consistently went in and out of the building and trailers for therapy sessions and other work. She said that at times, she even worked in the hallways.
"It definitely felt disjointed. We’re so used to being together as a community," she said.
But, Pejkovic added, "being all back together is such a different atmosphere than the past year and a half."
While the fire was a tragedy, it also was a blessing in disguise, Cherba said. It allowed for updates to several parts of the building, including improvements to lighting, the security system and several other rooms. The new gymnasium was one of the last rooms to open this month.
The upgrades come just as the nonprofit celebrates 50 years since opening its doors. Officials say they will celebrate the reopening with a ribbon cutting on Nov. 8.
"It was an eye-opening experience," Cherba said. "We have a beautiful, brand new building ready to accept students in need of our service."
Officials from a therapeutic day school for girls said their East Norwich building is fully operational nearly a year and a half after a fire ravaged the structure, leaving severe damage and displacing the administration.
Educators from the Harmony Heights Residential and Day School said the front portion of their Walnut Avenue building was heavily damaged in the May 2023 fire. About 70 firefighters from multiple departments responded to the overnight blaze before bringing it under control in about an hour, Newsday reported.
The fire severely damaged numerous offices and student spaces. The hallways and classrooms were filled with ash, and graduation pictures displayed on the walls were burned.
School officials said the section of the school that houses administrative offices, counseling and therapeutic facilities, as well as the gymnasium and other services, "incurred significant damage costing in excess of $3 million to restore."
"We were supposed to have our prom the next week," Kathryn Nastri, the school’s executive director emeritus, recalled.
She remembered having to pull items out of the building "hours after the fire was out to air them out on the front lawn, so hopefully we could still use them."
Theresa Cherba, the school’s director of human relations, said the fire originated near the school's front door in a space where students go when they need to regroup. The cause of the fire was not found, she said.
Students and staff went remote for the rest of the school year and during a six-week summer course.
They returned to the building for the next school year, but administrators, therapists and other staff worked out of three trailers in the parking lot while the front of the building was being remodeled, officials said. The school was insured, they said.
"We had a loss of students because we had to go remote for a while," said the school’s principal, Tatiana Pejkovic. "It definitely had a large impact on stress levels of our staff."
The school has a capacity for 80 students. At the time of the fire, enrollment was about 65 students, but now it’s around 56, Cherba said. The school serves girls in grades 8 to 12, who are classified as emotionally disturbed or have other health impairments, according to the school’s website. The school tuition is often paid by the student’s home-school district, which refers the student to Harmony Heights.
Pejkovic said that in all kinds of weather, staff and students consistently went in and out of the building and trailers for therapy sessions and other work. She said that at times, she even worked in the hallways.
"It definitely felt disjointed. We’re so used to being together as a community," she said.
But, Pejkovic added, "being all back together is such a different atmosphere than the past year and a half."
While the fire was a tragedy, it also was a blessing in disguise, Cherba said. It allowed for updates to several parts of the building, including improvements to lighting, the security system and several other rooms. The new gymnasium was one of the last rooms to open this month.
The upgrades come just as the nonprofit celebrates 50 years since opening its doors. Officials say they will celebrate the reopening with a ribbon cutting on Nov. 8.
"It was an eye-opening experience," Cherba said. "We have a beautiful, brand new building ready to accept students in need of our service."
