Dear NCSA Families,

This will be my final update for a couple of days.

I spent a significant amount of time on campus today surveying the damage.  While all the buildings are completely fine, our water treatment plant did not fare as well.  We have no water until we can repair the broken water lines which we will try to do ASAP.  In addition, PG&E has no estimate of when our power will be restored – it could take several days.  Finally, we continue to have spot fires all over campus so even if we had water and power, it is just not safe to have kids return yet.  The Fire Department remains on campus waiting for the spot fires to burn out and to make sure the fire is completely contained.

Even with all of this, I am hoping we will be back on campus by Monday. I will confirm our return date by Saturday the 14th.  I’m really am sorry we’ve lost this week, but I am beyond grateful we have a school to return to.  Again, my undying appreciation goes out to Ian, Al the fire fighters and the Sheriff’s Office!

As far as making up the days we missed, I do not believe we will have to.  We will have to use our two Snow Days (ironic, I know), but our insurance should cover the rest.

I know there are children who are scared and worried, so we will have counselors on site on Monday for any student who needs some help processing all of what has happened.

Finally, the school is in good shape overall. I have attached pictures to my email so you can get a sense of just how close the fire came to the school and to prepare your kids for the reality of what they will see when they return. Very scary, but very stunning that we made it through this. We will definitely add fire education to our curriculum after this.

Please let me know if you need help or assistance during this difficult time – we are here for our families!

I also understand that all evacuations have been lifted (except surrounding NCSA), so I hope that most families are home safe.

Thank you for all the support and kind words, it is much appreciated.

Have a restful evening,

Holly Pettitt

School Director