Students from a Catholic elementary school in Atchison that was destroyed in a fire will attend school next year at the Catholic upper school.

The Atchison Catholic Elementary School, called ACES, was destroyed by fire June 26. That school housed students from preschool to fourth grade. The middle school houses students from fifth through eighth grade.

Leaders of the school had toured several sites to try and decide where to send the students when school starts in seven weeks.

Principal Rick Weber says it was best to send all the students to the upper school, at least for one year. He says it will be noisy and crowded, but school leaders thought it was the best possible decision because other sites would have required renovations or did not meet fire codes.