Saint Francis of Assisi School community unite after fire prompts week-long closure

SPRINGFIELD TWP., Pa. - The day after flames damaged the roof and top floor of the beloved Saint Francis of Assisi School in Springfield, the school’s principal said her goal is to keep the students and staff together.

Crews tossed debris from the school in Delaware County on the morning after the stone structure with deep community ties burned. 

School principal, Nicole Hamilton, said she was, "overwhelmed when I got here, I saw so many people, so many fire trucks. The smoke the flames were coming out the side of the windows. Lots of smoke everywhere. It was a lot." 

Starting as a teacher and now the principal of the 350-student preschool through 8th grade program, Hamilton rushed to Saint Francis when she learned of the fire just after 5 p.m. Monday. 

Flames burned through the roof, damaging the classrooms below. 

No one was injured, but the top floor is gutted. 

Jay Smith, her husband and two daughters, live nearby to be part of the Saint of Francis community. 

"We were pretty shocked. Texts and phone calls came in at the same time. Oh my gosh we opened the front door you could see it immediately all the black smoke coming," she said.

While local and federal investigators search for the cause, students gather at a nearby street corner pleading for donations. $1,000 was taken in by midday.

Penny Smith is in 8th grade. "I kind of just hope that I can still be with everyone that I went to school with before this happened. I hope we all stay together," she said.

School is closed for the week, but the lot beyond the blackened school has become its own classroom offering lessons in open-hearted support.

Parent Jay Smith said, "Saint Francis is the people that go here. The families that support it and all of the students that love this school very much. Sad about the building but Saint Francis is going strong we’re going to care of these kids."