As most of you know by now, our first week of school, which started on a high note with the grand reopening of East St. John High School and welcoming all of our students back, ended on a sad note with a fire at East St. John Elementary School.

Disbelief that the school district was once again without one of its campuses soon turned to action, however, not only by school officials but the entire community, which flooded the School Board office with offers of help.

Unfortunately, East St. John Elementary School sustained significant damage, particularly to the roof, main building and cafeteria areas. Smoke and water damage also extended throughout the building.

Fortunately, with the return of students to East St. John High School, the Leon Godchaux campus is once again vacant and East St. John Elementary School students will be able to have classes at that site.

The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board last week declared a state of emergency that will allow the district to move more quickly to set up a temporary campus there, as well as do the necessary work at East St. John Elementary.

Work has already started at Leon Godchaux, where contractors are doing work such as repainting halls and classrooms, replacing light bulbs and covers, securing lockers, installing interactive whiteboards, patching holes in walls and replacing ceiling tiles, electrical panels and drains and sewer lines so that the building is in good shape for students.

Workers are also erecting a fence around the playground at ESJE so that the Lake Pontchartrain Elementary School students who remain on the campus can safely access it while repairs are being done to East St. John Elementary.

The Leon Godchaux campus is scheduled to be ready for students on or before Aug. 31 and school officials are working diligently to get it ready before that date. An open house is being planned for the first day of school on the Leon Godchaux campus so parents can see where their children will be learning.

To make up the school time lost, East St. John Elementary students will attend classes during the district’s professional development days.

These are days already scheduled in the school calendar for students to be off while teachers and staff come in to work.

The school day for those students will also be extended by 10 minutes to make up the remaining minutes required by the state.

All of the school supplies lost by the students will be replaced at no charge to them thanks to donations that have poured in from the community.

It would take another entire column to list all of the individuals and organizations who have generously offered to help, so I will simply say THANK YOU to each and every one of you.

A big thank you also goes out to all of the emergency responders and firemen, who worked for more than 15 hours nonstop to put out the fire and keep it from spreading.

The East St. John Elementary family has adopted the phrase Bobcat Strong as its rallying cry during this time. The past week and a half has proved that we are not only Bobcat Strong but St. John Strong — as a school, a school district and a community!

Jennifer Boquet is the communications specialist for St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools. Email her at jboquet@stjohn.k12.la.us.