School Rushes to Reopen After Devastating Fire

A private school in Scripps Ranch that was destroyed by the firestorm began classes Monday in a new setting.

Fire destroyed classrooms at the Chabad Hebrew Academy, but a new building was already under construction when the fires hit. Luckily, the new building was spared, but it was only three-quarters finished. Workers and school officials rushed to get it ready in just two weeks.

“To think just last week we were devastated and didn’t know what to do … our entire old campus destroyed, and here we are, two weeks later, in a beautiful location,” said Yosef Fradkin of the Chabad Hebrew Academy. “Who could ask for better?” The school’s director said local businesses and school districts donated or loaned materials to help the school reopen.

Officials are still trying to raise funds to replace all the school supplies and contents that were lost. Also lost in the fire was the school’s community center, library, synagogue, art garden and administrative center.

— Courtesy NBCSandiego.com