By Denise Smith Amos
Enquirer staff writer

HYDE PARK - As groups of parents milled around a new, brightly painted kindergarten classroom at Summit Country Day School Tuesday, teacher Michele Kaegi briefly recalled a darker moment.

Eight months ago, on a Sunday after church, her boss phoned to say that Kaegi's classroom and several others had been destroyed. Workers digging a foundation had dug too close to Summit's main building, causing part of it to collapse.

PHOTOS

Archived collapse photo gallery

No one was hurt, but most of Kaegi's teaching materials, student work, some personal items and five years of memories were buried in rubble.

The reality hit when she drove by the school and saw the hole where her classroom had been.

"I kept telling myself, 'We're all OK. It's a building. We'll rebuild,' " Kaegi said.

Summit did rebuild. Tuesday the school's first day of class brought 1,050 students back to campus for the first time since the collapse in January.

Summit Country Day School opened its doors to returning students Tuesday. (Enquirer photo/MICHAEL E. KEATING)

Last winter and spring, some of Summit's classes met at a nearby church, in portable classrooms, and at Xavier University.

In addition to a newly mended main building, students and parents Tuesday greeted a newly built, $11 million Lower School, serving 439 students from prekindergarten through fourth grade.

"They did a great job of picking up the pieces and moving forward," said Denise Johnson, a Springfield Township mother of two Lower School students. "This is better than I expected."

It boasts larger classrooms and hallways, wireless Internet access, three playgrounds, including one on the roof, two libraries, science labs and a gymnasium.

"Every time I walk along the hallway I see something new," said 9-year-old Madison Lawrence, a third-grader from Loveland.

Her class met last year in a portable classroom on wheels, "which was fun, but we didn't get to drive anywhere," she said.

No Summit students left the school as a result of the construction accident, said Jennifer Pierson, a spokeswoman.

Summit's tuition ranges from $10,480 to $12,645 a year.

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E-mail damos@enquirer.com