Schools struggle in ruins of Santa Rosa

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KGO) -- They are two schools that are still standing amid the charred ruins around them and the hundreds of homes destroyed by last week's fires; perhaps to serve as an oasis for their students and families who have lost so much.

RELATED: Questions remain as schools begin to reopen after North Bay fires

"We went back into Riebli schools and Shaefer school and there was nothing left," says Sonoma County Superitnendent of Schools Steve Herrington."The schools are standing, the firefighters took their stand there. Each school is about $10 million cash value to the community. The school is standing but the community is gone. "

TAKE ACTION: How you can help victims of the North Bay fires

Schaefer Elementary is in Santa Rosa's Coffey Park. It survived virtually unscathed. The plan is to clean it up and reopen it on October 30.

"We do think it's miraculous that our school still stands... around the devastation of the community and that has a lot to do with the community themselves," explained Carmen Diaz-French, Superintendent of the Piner-Olivet Union School District. "I got accounts that community members came out with their hoses, they were dropping buckets of water when they saw embers in front of the school."

Click here for full coverage of the North Bay fires.