Damage to the private school, in the 2200 block of Broad Street, was minor, Principal Rebecca Dent said today. The car hit benches outside the building and the wall. A bookshelf on the inner wall of the building was knocked down by the impact.
The school had dismissed early, and the incident happened after noon Friday as a parent was picking up her child, Dent said.
She declined to name the parent but said that the car was a newer-model Toyota and that she believed it had been purchased recently. She did not know exactly which Toyota model it was.
Several Toyota models have been subject to a recall since last month because of reports of sticking accelerators.
"It was like (the car) was being controlled by a robot or something," Dent said. "That thing accelerated and just went right into the wall."
She said the school was lucky that students were not in the classroom and that no one was injured.
"If the benches weren't there and the walls weren't as sturdy, it would have gone right through," Dent said.
