St. Francis of Assisi in Springfield, Pennsylvania working to find new classrooms for students after fire
Classes at St. Francis of Assisi School in Springfield, Delaware County, are canceled for the rest of the week after a fire destroyed the building Monday evening.
The building has a gaping hole in the roof, and windows remain shattered while classrooms are covered with burnt debris.
"It doesn't feel real, honestly," Melanie Altobelli, whose children attend the school, said. "It's heartbreaking. It's really sad to see in person."
While the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigates what caused the fire, school officials are focused on determining the next steps for the 150 affected students.
The building that caught fire housed pre-K, first and third-grade students.
Principal Nicole Hamilton said two nearby Catholic schools, St. Kevin School and Cardinal O'Hara, both offered temporary classroom space for the students.
"This was our preschool, kindergarten, first grade and third-grade classrooms," Hamilton said. "Lots of toys and art supplies will be needed at some point. But right now, we're trying to figure out where we're going."
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia said other options are also being explored, and the hope is to get students back in class next week.
A company offering modular classrooms also offered its services.
Parents, administrators and even students said they were heartbroken that the school had been destroyed.
"It was very sad," Ben Travea, a third grader at St. Francis of Assisi, said. "The community was down in tears and all that stuff. And we just came here, and there was like fire, like in the first-grade room."
More than a dozen students started a bake sale to raise money to help the school rebuild. The group said it raised over $1,000 in just two hours.
"Seeing our principal and all of our teachers like, their reaction to this, we saw how upset they were and like how sad they were, and we just really wanted to help," seventh grader Hailey McCullough said.
Members of the community are vowing to get through this together.
"Delaware County is a very tight-knit, close family," Terry McCullough, a grandmother of one of the students, said, "especially within the Catholic schools. So I would imagine that it would be pretty quickly that they'll get some things going."
Officials said no one was injured in the fire.
The principal is asking for prayers.
