Plans for Philadelphia Catholic School to return after fire
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Students at the Our Mother of Consolation school will be learning virtually for the foreseeable future after a fire damaged their school building. The fire was so intense the roof collapsed.
The plan is to get these kids back into the classroom this year, but the building is so heavily damaged it won't be here. There are 235 students that go to school at Our Mother of Consolation and now there's a scramble to find a place that can fit them all.
"It was a lot of great years here," alumni Samantha Colti said. "I feel so terrible for the teachers."
Former students of the school reminisce about the good old days. The days long before Tuesday's fire severely damaged the building.
"Me and my sister came back a few months ago to visit and even though it was a long time ago, it still felt like home," Colti said. "There were still pictures of me on the wall."
The school has been in this neighborhood for 160 years. But now there's a sign on the building that reads "imminently dangerous structure" and keep out. It took about 120 firefighters to get the fire under control.
The school was already dismissed, but children in an aftercare program were playing in the yard at the time. ATF agents are investigating what happened.
"How terrifying for the parents whose kids were in extended day?" church member Karen Feisullin said. "I can't imagine."
Barbara Dawkins' two granddaughters go to the school.
"They had just gotten out of school at 2:45 p.m.," Dawkins said. "So if it had been a Thursday she would've been at art class and we don't pick her up until 4 p.m."
She says it was their decision to come by Wednesday to see the damage for themselves and now third grader Mackenzie fights back tears.
"I was heartbroken. I was sad when I saw it on the news," Mackenzie Dawkins said. "I did have a lot of memories in there."
But there's now a chance to make new memories.
There's no plan yet on where these students will continue with in-person instruction, but school officials say offers have poured in from nearby churches and organizations to lend space.
"It's just what we do in education and what we do in ministry," pastor principal John Fisher said. "We're all brother and sisters and we're all together and we would do it for someone else. Just open your hearts and homes."
In two weeks they're on Easter break and officials hope to have a plan in place for in-person school by the time they return.
