Two schools in Dallas damaged and destroyed by the 2019 tornado.

Two schools in Dallas reopened more than a few years after the tornado outbreak. hundreds of buildings damaged.

Over the past month, students Thomas Jefferson High School and Walnut Hill International Leadership Academy are adjusting to their new buildings. Mia Gonzalez, an eighth grader from Walnut Hill, experienced some anxiety on her first day of school.

“I was nervous. I didn’t know what it would be like,” Gonzalez said.

She was at 5^th October 20, 2019 when a tornado destroyed about 90% of her old school at Walnut Hill Elementary School.

“I was heartbroken. I just couldn’t believe the school was gone. I go to school with pre-K,” she recalls. “Just knowing that it all suddenly disappeared made me sad. I was heartbroken. I was confused. It just didn’t feel real.”

She and other students attended other schools for three years before Walnut Hill reopened in January with bilingual instruction. The school combines the former Walnut Hill Elementary School and Cary High School, which was completely destroyed in the tornado.

Philip Meeker is the director of the academy. According to him, Spanish and English are taught to about two-thirds of the students. The school enrolls students from the age of three and takes 8^th grade.

“We have communities that have people who are immigrants. We have people who cross our border, they are illegal immigrants, but they need a community. We have to teach their children, support them and help them just like any other student,” Meeker said. “We are here for the children. That’s all that matters at Dallas ISD, it’s the kids.”

The school’s official ribbon cutting was held on Saturday along with Thomas Jefferson High School. In October 2019, about 75% of the nearby school was destroyed.

The structure differs from the 1956 design with larger classrooms and more modern technology.

“It was a very long way home. It took a lot of determination to get there,” Dallas ISD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizade said Saturday.

Alma Pandya, a bilingual teacher at Walnut Hill 5th grade, said she and other teachers visited the new school before the Christmas break.

“I couldn’t wait. I just couldn’t wait for my kids to come to school, so we started working earlier than we usually come to work after the holidays,” Pandya said. “I thought I didn’t care what happened. I’m going to come and make sure my room looks perfect for them.”

While students like Gonzalez only have a few months at a new school before heading to high school this fall, she said she’s grateful.

“I feel at home again,” she said on Saturday.

The October 2019 Dallas tornado damaged more than 900 homes and buildings. It caused approximately $1.5 billion in damage, making it the costliest tornado in Texas history.