Mike Clear, a seventh-grade social studies teacher, leads a discussion in one of 11 classroom “stations” formed in the sanctuary of Maranatha Bible Church. Photos by Jeff B. Flinn

When Kitty Hawk Middle School received word last week that more than a dozen portables would not be ready for the start of the school year, Principal Yvonne Anglada and her staff started scrambling to find adequate room to teach for 600 students.

After a brief search, Anglada’s prayers were answered.

Literally.

For the first three days of the school year, Anglada and her Kitty Hawk staff occupied the classrooms, hallways and sanctuary of Maranatha Bible Church of Converse, organizing 30 teacher “stations” throughout the church— even dividing the large sanctuary into 11 classrooms.

“(Superintendent) Dr. (Willis) Mackey contacted the pastor Friday, and it wasn’t two seconds later that they agreed to help us,” Anglada said Monday at Maranatha, as her staff and students settled into their temporary facility. “The church and Pastor (Rander) Draper’s people have been amazing. We couldn’t have picked a better place to be.”

Despite some cramped quarters — the Kitty Hawk front office, nurses’ office, and principal’s office are actually three desks in one hallway — Anglada said the move came almost without a hitch.

“When the electric panels for the portables were delayed, they notified us, so we went with Plan B,” she said. Initially the district was going to utilize classroom space at Kitty Hawk, “but doubling up wasn’t going to work,” she said.

Time for Plan C — find another venue.

A class of Kitty Hawk students wrap up coursework Monday at Maranatha Bible Church moments before their lunch period begins.

Anglada and Judson administrators met with Draper and some Maranatha church members Saturday morning for a tour of the facility. “We began designating classrooms, and (organized) 11 learning stations in the auditorium,” Anglada said.

After Maranatha’s Sunday services concluded, Anglada and her staff moved in. “We got here about 2 p.m. and worked until about 10 o’clock, getting chairs moved, signs up and things situated.”

Anglada and Judson officials kept Kitty Hawk parents and staff well aware of the change. Come Monday morning, almost 600 seventh- and eighth-graders boarded buses at Kitty Hawk, bound for Maranatha. Once they arrived, they were ushered into the auditorium for orientation before the educational day began promptly at 9:05 a.m.

Anglada said all Judson had angles were covered: a nurse’s station was developed; Judson’s technical department made the Maranatha foyer wireless, for communications with district offices and Kitty Hawk; the food service department arrived with hundreds of bag lunches, assembled in Maranatha’s kitchen; custodians were on hand; and hall monitors helped students find bathrooms and classrooms.

“It’s been smooth, and this is just a tremendous place for us to be,” Anglada said.

Stuart Perryman, a Maranatha member, was on hand over the weekend to witness the transition.

“Pastor Draper called me and said, ‘They need our help,’” Perryman said. “There was no hesitation whatsoever. There was a need, and we were in a position to help.”

Perryman was impressed with how well the transition actually went on Monday.

Judson food service workers prepare hundreds of sack lunches for Kitty Hawk students who spent the first three days of the school year in temporary classes at Maranatha Bible Church in Converse.

Perryman said Maranatha was blessed to be a part of the solution for the school district.

“We know love the lord your God … and love your neighbor as yourself,” he said. “They’re saying thanks to us, but really, it’s truly a blessing for us to be able to serve.”

Judson officials fully expected Kitty Hawk’s portables to be ready for a return to campus today. But if there are more delays, Anglada and her staff know they can find refuge at Maranatha.