Foley Recalls 'Scurrying' To Open NKHS After 9/11

In 2001, Gerry Foley was principal of North Kingstown High School, which was set to move to a state-of-the-art facility that would be the envy of every other school district in Rhode Island.

It was one of the biggest construction projects in North Kingstown in recent memory. But the $33-million building would never get a grand groundbreaking ceremony as construction dragged on months after the original completion date.

The first day of school was pushed back by 10 school days from late August — to Sept. 12.

“We were scurrying to get the school open regardless of Sept. 11,” said Foley, who now serves as principal of .

As if the previous day’s events weren’t enough for them, students were greeted with an odd sight once they made it through the doors of the new school. No books were in the library. The smell of polyurethane permeated the air. The spine, the spiral staircase in the middle of the school, wasn’t finished. The entire art and music wing wasn’t even open yet. The auditorium was off limits. Construction workers were milling about the hallways.

“We opened a school that wasn’t completely finished, but we still opened,” Foley recalled.

Another new feature of the school was the advisory system, one of the first in the state. Students began their day in advisory with a small group of other students and one advisor, who was a faculty member at the school. The group would stay together until graduation, in most cases.

“With small groups like that, you can talk to them at times like that, in times of tragedy and significance,” said Foley. “Just to be together is the important thing.”

Despite everything new and uncertain on that first day of school, those at North Kingstown High School that day recall the perseverance of everyone involved with the school’s opening.

“Oddly, there was a feeling that we would get back in the routine,” said explained Thomas Kenworthy, current NKHS principal. “But the end of the week, we were back in it.”

It was the first day in a long and arduous year for North Kingstown High School. According to faculty and staff, the school wasn't entirely completed until later that fall.

“That day always sticks out for me just as much as Sept. 11,” said Kenworthy.

Note: This is an excerpted version of an article that appeared on North Kingstown Patch. To read the full version of the article, follow this link.