“I was like ‘this isn’t a tornado, it’s just wind and rain’,” Washington said. 

Washington said she wasn’t worried and left her classroom to fill up her water bottle. While at the water fountain, she heard crashing sounds above her. She started to get anxious, and ran back to her classroom. 

Then she heard Junior Principal Kyle Devine’s announcement of a tornado warning.

“He’s like ‘go to your tornado drill places’ and I was like ‘oh, this might not be just wind and rain’,” Washington said. 

After school, Washington went home and learned a tornado hit the city of St. Louis and surrounding cities between 2:30 and 3 p.m. Although Washington does not live in the affected areas, she said she’s driven around there and has seen what happened to other neighborhoods. 

“It’s all demolished,” Washington said. “Roofs are gone. Complete houses are gone.” 

Ethan Waterford-Johnson, freshman, said that because of the weather, his bus ride back home from school took over two hours.

The tornado has affected his neighbor’s cars and even his father’s motorcycle.

“There have been problems with power. It is affecting my time to study for finals,” Waterford-Johnson said.

He hasn’t had internet connection for the past four days, and is worried about not being able to work on group presentations with his classmates, or submit online assignments.

Senior Principal Melissa Davis coordinates transportation and said the administrative team was well prepared for these circumstances and everyone was able to handle it effectively. 

“The storm came through right when students were starting to leave for the day, so we had to adjust a few things for that,” Davis said. 

Davis said bus drivers for the district were able to find safe locations to go to during the storm and were able to resume their usual routes after a slight delay. Parents received information that students may be returning home slightly later. 

Despite the inconveniences caused by the storm, Davis said she was glad to see that staff did a great job keeping everyone safe.

“It’s for days like that one, that we practice drills so we know what to do,” Davis said. 

On Monday, May 19, a message was sent out to students providing resources for emergency assistance, shelter locations, mental health support, and more. They also provided the information of people to contact if families have been displaced from their homes by the tornado.

Additionally, Rockwood Gives Back is a program that helps families throughout the year, and the program is currently accepting monetary donations as well as household items such as cleaning supplies and food. Donations can be dropped off at the Early Childhood Center during regular business hours.

Michael Brucker, senior, was taking the AP Psychology exam when students had to go into assigned tornado shelter locations. Before he had to move to the basement in the gym building, Brucker said the weather created a distracting environment in the gym testing area.

“I could hear the hail pelt the roof,” Brucker said.

Due to having to leave the testing room for approximately 30 minutes, AP Psychology students’ exams were voided, according to an email from Juli Welker, testing coordinator. Students were given the option to receive a full refund or take the test again on Wednesday, May 21, Friday, May 23, or Wednesday, May 28.

Brucker decided to take the make-up exam Wednesday, May 21.

“I am a little upset because I stressed so much and now I am stressing again,” Brucker said. “But now I’m just ready to get it done.”