Oldest school building in Atlanta gutted by fire

ATLANTA - A fire Saturday afternoon gutted the top two floors of a charter school that opened last August in the former Slaton Elementary School building in Grant Park. <br> <br> No children were in the Neighborhood Charter School at the time, but damage to the nearly 100-year-old building appeared extensive. The top two floors of the three-story brick school were largely gutted, Atlanta firefighters said. Classrooms, offices and the auditorium on the first floor suffered water damage. <br> <br> The school&#39;s principal, Jackie Rosswurm, said school leaders planned to meet Sunday to figure out a way to continue classes. Several local churches have offered to let the Neighborhood Charter School use their classroom space, Rosswurm said. <br> <br> ``The building does not make the school,&#39;&#39; Rosswurm said. ``It&#39;s a terrible thing, but it&#39;s not the end of Neighborhood Charter School.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Firefighters said they had not yet determined the cause of the blaze, which appeared to have started on the third floor, an unused area being renovated for future use as classrooms. <br> <br> Parents in the southeast Atlanta neighborhoods of Grant Park and Ormewood Park had spent about a year fixing up the 95-year-old building, doing most of the work themselves.