COVINGTON, Tenn. — One year ago, Tipton County was left speechless when an EF-3 tornado ripped through the community. The damage left behind was brutal, leaving several people homeless and a county without an elementary and middle school.
On the morning of March 31, 2023, due to threats of severe weather, Crestview Middle and Elementary schools announced classes would be let out early, at 1:30 p.m., with a post to their social media. The decision was made in part by the Superintendent of Tipton County Schools, John Combs.
Both schools were rendered useless after the storm blew past Tipton County.
“It was gut-wrenching," said Combs.
The realization of what happened rattled the community the morning after, when teachers, families and students came out to look at the wreckage.
“You can’t just wrap your head around it," said Whitley Williams shortly after seeing what remained of Crestview Elementary, where her daughter attends. "If they hadn't let the kids go early...my child would have been one of many kids in the gym."
Had the school not erred at the side of caution, the school district said roughly 250 people would have been inside the schools when the tornado hit.
“I would have had family in the buildings,” said Hunter Bennett, Tipton County Schools Maintenance Supervisor. “Everywhere there’s cinderblock walls, there’s steel, I-beams...No life could have withstood that trauma.”
For decades, Crestview served as a cornerstone of Tipton County, where generations of families like Stephanie Byrd's walked the hallways.
“If you live in Covington, chances are you went to Crestview. If you didn’t, your kids did,” said Byrd.
Byrd, her husband and both of their children were students at Crestview.
“When they saw the school, they just started crying because that’s all they’ve known.”
From there, cleanup began. In the days following, former students, teachers and Crestview families helped the district pick up the pieces of the schools.
“We always just rally together,” said Ashley Ray, who was a teacher at Crestview Elementary. “I have been here 16 years, and this is unprecedented for me....It [didn't] really set in until I came to pick up the debris and actually [saw] what’s going on.”
From there, the race was on to meet the concerns of the community and keep the students and teachers together. Outside of some rotations for state testing and virtual learning, the district began work on two temporary Crestview schools at Cobb Parr Park.
The goal was to open them in the fall - with help from ServiceMaster, a local restoration company - and the district gave itself a 30-day deadline.
“This happened in March," said Byrd. "They did not start those structures until a month and a half, two months before schools started, and we are sitting here going, ‘What are our kids going to do? This is not going to be ready in time.'”
It was a dedication unlike any other, according to Tipton County Schools.
“ServiceMaster was able to hit a deadline that no one believed was possible, and they actually beat it by four days,” said Bennett.
Both schools opened up in August, just in time for the start of the 2023-24 school year, to the joy of students, teachers and parents.
“I am just so proud they were able to get us started,” said Darlene Dowell, a Crestview parent. "I'm honored."
Among the excitement, one question remains: When will Crestview Middle and Elementary be rebuilt permanently?
Right now, the schools have been completely leveled. Playground equipment around the former schools are mangled or in pieces. Tree branches that line the area dangle from the storm. Nothing remains standing where students used to walk except for one thing.
At the entrance to the former buildings, there is a sign with the phrase "Hey Covington - It's been real..." and on the other side, a message of hope for what is to come: "Now get ready for CMS 2.0!’”
“It’s going to be one of the nicest school buildings in West Tennessee, and we’re excited, and they deserve every bit of it,” said Combs. "I know it’s been hard, but I guess what I want to say more than anything: thank you for being patient, because the end is coming, and it’s going to look nice.”
The school district will receive some help in rebuilding the schools. On March 26, Congressman Steve Cohen announced the Tipton County Board of Education will get an additional $11 million from FEMA.
The plan is to open Covington Elementary and Covington Middle School where Crestview used to stand at the start of the 2025-26 school year. The two schools will be conjoined but operate separately. While those like Byrd will always view Crestview as Crestview, the community is ready to see what lies ahead.
“Part of me wants to see it stay the same, on the same hand, you can’t stay in the past,” said Byrd.