ALTADENA, Calif. — Schools in the Altadena area hit hard by the Eaton Fire are looking to regroup and rebuild.

Jennifer Tolbert reflects on the Eaton Fire that destroyed numerous homes and businesses in her community.

“I started to receive alerts that intensified very quickly, telling us there were fast moving fires in our area,” said Jennifer Tolbert, the head of school at Saint Mark’s in Altadena.

As she reflected, she’s reminded of her own personal and professional loss.

“We feared as we got alerts, both smoke and fire alerts. We have an alarm system that let me know, especially when we received heat sensors that probably the house was going down and then I received the same alerts from our school campus,” Tolbert said.

Tolbert not only lost her home, she lost a place that is near and dear to her heart.

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church building that had stood since 1949, with the community dating back to 1906 and its adjacent school, was destroyed in the Eaton Fire.

Saint Mark’s School has 70 employees and 325 students from all walks of life in preschool through the sixth grade.

Students like Linda Lopez Perera’s twins who just graduated.

“The minute we stepped in the door and saw how connected and how amazing the community of Saint Mark’s is and will continue to be, we realized that was the place for us,” Lopez Perera said.

She said her kids were devastated when they heard what happened to their alumni school.

“It was such an emotional moment for a variety of reasons because of the memories and all the connections we made throughout the years,” Lopez Perera said.

But immediately wanted to help.

“It’s hard because we know it’s going to be an uphill battle,” Lopez Perera said.

And so have others. Rebuilding and fundraising efforts are fresh on everyone’s minds.

Tolbert said the goal is to keep all of her students together learning in person, but to do that they’ll need not only a new space, they’ll need all the materials to go with it. 

“We have lost everything, we don’t have learning materials, we don’t have desks and chairs.”

Tolbert said they are currently looking at new locations to bring students in the surrounding areas and hope to have a temporary home in place in the coming days.

Through the lense of destruction, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The only part of the elementary school not to burn was the preschool that had just been built after an $8.5-million capital campaign.

If you’d like to help rebuild the Saint Mark’s community, click the link.