Livonia — After an early-morning fire devastated their Plymouth building March 3, the displaced students of Northville Montessori Center found hope in the form of their neighbors at Ladywood High School.

“They called us on Wednesday and said ‘Is there any way you could help us out?’” recalled Ladywood’s president, Karen Moore, of the March 4 phone call. “I said, ‘Well come on in, let’s see.’ Because if we can, we will.”

They did — and the 65 preschool through eighth-grade students moved into four extra classrooms at Ladywood on March 9.

Moore met with The Michigan Catholic that same Monday and said the decision to rent out space to Northville Montessori is “a good lesson for the girls to learn to open your arms and doors when someone in the community is in need.”

“We had a team here over the weekend (with) our facilities manager, Bill Smith, who’s just gone way above and beyond to coordinate this,” said Moore.

She added Smith “was here all weekend along with their volunteers to get the rooms set up,” which included getting smaller-size desks and chairs for the younger students.

Moore expressed gratitude to a Ladywood social studies instructor, Jim Duffin, who agreed to transfer his class to another room so the Montessori kids could have classes next-door to each other.

The Montessori’s start and end time is different from Ladywood’s, so there is no fear of congestion in the hallways, she added.

“I think the girls will look at them as little siblings,” said Moore, commenting on the all-female student body’s delight at seeing little ones in the hallways.

And conveniently, the wing that now houses the co-ed Montessori also has a men’s restroom because “we do have male teachers; dads do visit,” Moore chuckled.

An investigation about the fire’s origins is still under way, and the Montessori school, led by Keith Gall, is still determining how to pick up the pieces. But the school will have a home for the rest of the semester in its space at Ladywood.

Northville Montessori Center posted several of its students’ comments on its Facebook page crediting Ladywood for the quick action.

“Thanks to the generosity and kindness of Ladywood, we now have a place to continue school,” was one eighth-grader’s reflection on March 11. “We have a safe, friendly environment.”

A thought shared by a fourth-grader explained, “But what I really want to thank is the Northville Montessori spirit that is in each of us. No matter what happens, it will always be with us … I also want to thank Ladyood High School for taking us under their wing.”

Paul Stuligross, a theology teacher at Ladywood, said this is an opportunity to show Ladywood’s students how to truly put faith into action.

“What better way to do that than to open your arms to someone who has suffered through something than that?” asked Stuligross, who also is a Michigan Catholic columnist.

Stuligross said the fire brought more than a physical loss to the Montessori kids and facilitators: “It’s the feeling that they’ve lost their home. It’s not just giving them a building; it’s making them feel that they’re at home.”

“I think it really shows that we’re really trying to live out what we teach the girls each day,” he said.

Moore added that Ladywood had contacted the Felician Sisters — Ladywood is a Felician-sponsored institution — to gain permission to allow a secular organization to utilize the facilities.

“They very much agreed that it’s the right thing to do,” said Moore.

Moore also said they contacted the next-door Montessori Center of Our Lady, another Felician-sponsored ministry, since Northville Montessori Center qualifies as a competitor.

Maria Mueller, head of the Montessori Center of Our Lady, had told Moore: “No, this is where we need to show our faith and we can help them out.”

Stuligross explained that even though Ladywood is a Catholic school, “it’s important that we’re ecumenically minded. They are not a Catholic school — it’s just a school in the community.”

“I think that’s what it’s about: we have to open our arms to everybody,” he said.