San Francisco school grieves deaths of mother, 7-year-old son buried under snow in Kirkwood
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- It was a difficult morning Tuesday for students at a San Francisco school after a classmate and his mother were killed in a freak accident near Lake Tahoe.
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There were grief counselors at French American International School in San Francisco's Hayes Valley as first graders dealt with the death of their classmate and his mother who were buried by snow outside their Tahoe-area condo.
Parents could be seen wiping their eyes as they came out of San Francisco's French American International school Tuesday after dropping off their kids as they processed the news of the deaths.
VIDEO: SF school grieves deaths of mother, son buried by snow in Kirkwood
Fifty-year-old Olga Perkovic was described as a very involved parent here at the French American School and will be missed by many. She and her seven-year-old son Aaron Goodstein were buried by three feet of snow that fell from the roof of their condo as they were headed inside after a day of skiing at the Kirkwood ski resort.
School administrators said it would not be a typical day at school and they will not shy away from talking about Aaron's death. They say the classroom is a safe place to talk and grieve.
They will have counselors at the school as long as people need them. Parents also had a safe room Tuesday morning where they could gather and talk about the tragedy. Olga and Aaron were on the ski trip with Olga's other two children and her mother.
Flowers arrived Tuesday at the San Francisco home where Olga and her son Aaron lived.
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A poster made by children was also left at the entrance of the home. It was made out to her husband and their two remaining children.
The 50-year old mother had worked at Zymergen, a bio-tech company in Emeryville, but left last Summer.
The CEO of the company told ABC7 news she will be missed by all.
RELATED: SF mother, 7-year-old son found dead, buried under snow in Kirkwood
In a statement Josh Hoffman wrote: "Olga was a valuable member of our community at Zymergen, a trusted adviser, and most importantly, an old and close friend of mine and so many others. Words can't express how shocked we were to hear this news."
Perkovic is survived by her husband David and two children, Sophie and Daria."
The sheriff's department is classifying this as a tragic accident.
Click here for a look at recent snow emergencies across California and the U.S.
