POLITICAL ATTACK » Sonoma’s Hundley SIZING UP 49ERS » It’s going to take

fights back over social media tactic. A3 more than Garoppolo this season. C1

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WINNER OF THE 2018 PULITZER PRIZE

SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

A life in service of his country

JOHN McCAIN » War hero,
longtime senator dies after
stopping cancer treatment
By NANCY BENAC
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Sen. John Mc-
Cain, who faced down his captors in
a Vietnam prisoner of war camp with
jut-jawed defiance and later turned
his rebellious streak into a 35-year
political career that took him to Con-
gress and the Republican presidential
nomination, died Saturday. He was 81
and had been being treated for brain
cancer for more than a year before
stopping treatments this week.
McCain, with his irascible grin and
fighter-pilot moxie, was a fearless and
outspoken voice on policy and politics
to the end, unswerving in his defense
of democratic values and unflinching
in his criticism of his fellow Republi-
can, President Donald Trump. He was
elected to the Senate from Arizona six
times but twice thwarted in seeking
the presidency.
An upstart presidential bid in 2000
didn’t last long. Eight years later, he
fought back from the brink of defeat
to win the GOP nomination, only to
be overpowered by Democrat Barack
Obama. McCain chose a little-known
Alaska governor as his running mate
in that race, helping turn Sarah Palin
into a national political figure.
After losing to Obama in an electoral
landslide, McCain returned to the Sen-
ate determined not to be defined by a
failed presidential campaign in which
his reputation as a maverick had fad-
ed. In the politics of the moment and
in national political debate over the de-
cades, McCain energetically advanced
his ideas and punched back hard at
critics — Trump not least among them.
The scion of a decorated military
family, McCain embraced his role
as chairman of the Armed Services
Committee, pushing for aggressive
U.S. military intervention overseas
and eager to contribute to “defeating CAROLYN KASTER / ASSOCIATED PRESS, 2008
the forces of radical Islam that want Sen. John McCain’s political career spanned 35 years,
taking him to Congress and the Republican nomination
TURN TO McCAIN » PAGE A11 for president in 2008. He died Saturday at age 81.

“I don’t think anyone that works here can be unaffected by the fires.
You have these young, young children whose whole life has just changed.”

Fire’s toll ripples into

META GEORGE, first-grade teacher at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa

Robert Mueller

Mueller’s
method
strictly schools across county
by books
RUSSIA PROBE » Insight
on special counsel’s next
move visible in his past
By MATT APUZZO
NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON — Long be-

fore the convictions last week
of two former members of Pres-
ident Donald Trump’s inner
circle, the political left’s expec-
tations for the Russia investiga-
tion were at a fever pitch.
Democrats predicted that the
special counsel, Robert Mueller,
would break with a half-century
of policy and prosecute a sitting
president. One MSNBC panel
considered how to arrest him
if he refuses
SESSIONS ON to leave the
HIS WAY OUT? White House.
President Trump (Answer: “At
may be laying some point,
the groundwork he is going to
to oust attorney have to come
general / A10 out.”)
Mueller, a
lifelong Republican who is an
unlikely hero for the anti-Trump
resistance, faces a series of
crucial decisions in the coming
BETH SCHLANKER/ THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
months. Will he subpoena the
president? Recommend charges? First-grade teacher Meta George, center, helps Scarlett White, 6, with a writing assignment Wednesday at Hidden Valley Elementary School in
Will he write a public report? Santa Rosa. Hidden Valley saw the largest enrollment decline after the October wildfires, within the Santa Rosa City Schools district.
Each could help sway the
midterm elections and shape the
future of the presidency itself. Students, faculty and district staff reflect on losses — and paths forward
For insight on what he will
do next, those who have known By SUSAN MINICHIELLO enrolled at the main and satellite campus last
him for years say, do not look THE PRESS DEMOCRAT August. This month, school began with 537 stu-

at the mythology that has built
up since Mueller was appointed
15 months ago. Look instead to
his four decades of government
service.
As he advanced from line
prosecutor to top Justice De-
partment official to head of the
FBI, his time was marked by ag-
gressive prosecutions but also
a deference at key moments to
precedent, tradition and higher
office. “He’s the last guy who’s
going to do anything that’s even
slightly a departure from the
bedrock principles,” said Glenn
TURN TO MUELLER » PAGE A2
E
very Monday after lunch, students and
staff at Hidden Valley Satellite School
gathered for a “nifty kid” assembly, where
they sang songs and talked about the life skill of
the month, such as perseverance or kindness. It
was a fun tradition that ended when the campus
was destroyed in the October wildfires, and its
80 students were sent to the main campus on
Bonita Vista Drive.
“I do love the main campus, but that small lit-
tle school was really special,” said Marcia Seim
Bossier, a reading interventionist teacher who
spent nearly five years at the satellite school.
Hidden Valley collectively saw the largest
enrollment drop after the wildfires, within the
Santa Rosa district. A total of 602 students were
dents, currently all at the main campus, which
even with the enrollment decline holds more
students than it did before the fires thanks to
the addition of three new portable classrooms.
Last school year, 700 students transferred out
of Santa Rosa City Schools, the largest school
district in Sonoma County with 16,020 students
currently enrolled. The net loss was 399, since
301 new students did enroll last school year.
Still, 700 gone in one year was significant.
“There’s a reason that they left the district
and … we can surmise it’s potentially due to the
impact of the fires,” said SRCS Superintendent
Diann Kitamura. SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
Countywide, public schools had a net loss of This month’s Rebuild North Bay takes
a look at the hurdles facing schools,
TURN TO SCHOOLS » PAGE A12 educators and students after the fires

Business E1 Crossword T7 Movies D6 Sonoma Life D1 COUNTY’S CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS: Report SANTA ROSA ©2018
Classified E5 Forum B9 Nevius C1 Smith A3 finds seniors are fastest-growing segment of High 77, Low 52 The Press
Democrat
Community B Lotto A2 Obituaries B4 LeBaron T1 dwindling population amid housing crunch / A3 THE WEATHER, C8
A12
First-grade teacher Meta George uses a whiteboard during class Wednesday at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa.
SCHOOLS
CONTINUED FROM A1
600 students last school year.
An additional net loss of 1,000
students is expected by the end
of this school year as more fam-
ilies leave the area, said Steven
Herrington, superintendent of
the Sonoma County Office of
Education.
“Many people relocated, many
tried to keep kids in school
during the current fiscal year for
student stability, but as housing
becomes more expensive we’re
losing families,” Herrington said.
“If you want your schools to
grow, you need young families.”
The effects of the fires on
Hidden Valley and the county’s
other schools extend beyond
reduced headcount.
“I don’t think anyone that
works here can be unaffected
by the fires,” said Meta George,
who has taught first grade at the
main campus for three years.
“You have these young, young
children whose whole life has
just changed.”
George said her incoming
class is a bit behind in math and
reading. Last year, she noticed
students needed more time to
progress in their studies. Kids
would lose concentration, or
need to physically withdraw to a
quiet space.
“The fires absolutely had an
impact on students’ learning
and progress,” George said. “Of
course they’re thinking about
other things when they’re living
in the barn that’s still standing
or above their family’s store.”
Gianna Rafael, who lives in
Fountaingrove and attends sixth
grade at Hidden Valley Elemen-
tary, recalled the ash, debris and
confusion after the fires.
“It was weird and I didn’t know
how to feel,” said Rafael, 11.
About 70,000 students are en-
rolled in public schools in Sono-
ma County. Over the past five
years, about 300 to 500 students
have left the county annually
across its 40 public school dis-
tricts. The high cost of living and
lack of affordable housing cause
families with young children to
leave and deter others from com-
ing here, Herrington said.
While falling enrollment isn’t
uncommon, October’s devastat-
ing wildfires compounded the
problem, wiping out 5,300 homes
in the Sonoma County, includ-
ing those of about 1,450 public
school students and about 250
public school employees.
The increased decline in K-12
enrollment has a ripple effect
on funding and resources. Santa
Rosa schools projected enroll-
ment for this school year at
16,141, but a week into the school
year it was 121 students shy of
that. California public schools
budget based on enrollment but
receive funds based on average
daily attendance.
“With enrollment down, that’s
going to be interesting,” Kitamu-
ra said.
It’s not just Santa Rosa City
Schools that’s feeling the impact
of the fires that leveled entire
blocks, including in Coffey Park
and Fountaingrove.
Although Schaefer Charter
School in the Piner-Olivet Union
School District was untouched
by flames, the Tubbs fire laid
waste to the surrounding Coffey
Park neighborhood. About 133
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018
PHOTOS BY BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Kindergartner Lincoln Corwin, 5, relaxes on the carpet during free time Wednesday in Kim McKay’s class at Hidden Valley Elementary School.
this year and lost fewer than 10 However, the district has no
students last year because of immediate plans to rebuild Hid-
the fires. The district plans to den Valley Satellite.
purchase the former Ursuline “When I drive by where the
school site this October, a year Hidden Valley satellite was, it’s
after the fires. a stark reality of what has hap-
As families have moved out pened because there’s nothing
of Santa Rosa, displaced by the there,” Superintendent Kitamu-
fires or in search of housing, dis- ra said.
tricts like Windsor Unified have The trauma of escaping the
seen their enrollment increase. fires, being displaced, and losing
Windsor has 134 students entire neighborhoods will linger
more this year than its projected for years to come for many res-
enrollment of 4,970. Superin- idents. To provide students and
tendent Brandon Krueger said their families support, the Santa
some parents of newly enrolled Rosa school district in June
students indicated they recently opened the Integrated Wellness
moved to Windsor, and a small Center, a free clinic that provides
number of those families men- counseling, nurse services and
A first-grader works on a self-portrait during class Wednesday at Hidden tioned it was due to the fires. tutoring and academic support.
Valley Elementary School, which lost its satellite campus during the fires. The financial hit to schools The clinic currently is open
extends beyond enrollment after school Mondays and
students and 12 teachers in the Assemblyman Jim Wood, issues. Public school districts Wednesdays.
district lost their homes. D-Santa Rosa, introduced legis- countywide incurred more than “The effect of the fires can
Schaefer has about 353 stu- lation to help stabilize funding $10 million in losses covered by be very deep and broad,” said
dents enrolled this school year, for school districts affected by insurance, including structur- Steve Mizera, assistant super-
about 100 fewer students than the fires, allowing the use of al damage and cleaning costs, intendent of student and family
last year, according to Schaefer prefire average daily attendance according to the Sonoma County services.
Principal Kathy Harris. Because figures for the next three years. Office of Education. Several area elementary
of the enrollment decline, the It passed in June as part of the Schaefer Charter School schools also have integrated
district reduced staff in March, state budget, but Calloway said and John B. Riebli Elementary an emotional curriculum call
although Harris didn’t have funds haven’t reached the Mark and were closed for months Toolbox, developed by Dove-
exact figures for how many West district yet. because of toxic ash and debris tail Learning in Sebastopol.
teachers were let go. “There’s a little more that’s in in surrounding neighborhoods. There are 12 “tools” in a box
“We’re looking forward to the weeds ... There’s a process to The Tubbs fire gutted the Anova that students can turn to help
having families return” as the it,” he said. school for children with autism develop resilience and empa-
neighborhoods are rebuilt, Not every district impacted by at the Luther Burbank Center thy. For example, there’s a tape
Harris said. the fires has seen an enrollment for the Arts, along with its audi- measure that remind students to
In the Mark West Union decline, though. torium. breathe and calm down. Or the
School District, 221 students lost At Roseland Collegiate Prep Cardinal Newman High headphones tool that indicates a
homes. About 40 didn’t return to — grades seven through 12 — School lost its library, baseball quiet, safe place.
the district, Superintendent Ron enrollment has increased from field, administrative office and The curriculum is used at
Calloway said. At the time of the 403 last year to 494 this year, 20 classrooms in the Tubbs fire. Santa Rosa schools and in neigh-
fires, enrollment was at about according to Roseland District Next door, Saint Rose Catholic boring districts.
1,470, and by June the district Superintendent Amy Jones-Kerr. School lost its preschool and Harris said the curriculum
had 1,421 students. This month, Although it’s partially due to playground, then flooded two was adopted at Schaefer School
enrollment boosted to about a new senior class, it’s still an weeks later when water pres- about six years ago and ex-
1,450 students. incredible feat for the school, sure was restored before staff humed after the wildfires.
The 40 students who left last which was located on the site of could shut off the water system “What we noticed last year is
school year were spread out the former Ursuline High School or replace sprinkler heads. that the impact kind of comes in
among different grade levels, northeast of Santa Rosa and In addition to Hidden Valley waves, and you don’t know when
presenting a funding challenge suffered major damage in the Satellite, the Santa Rosa school that’s going to come crashing on
for the district. firestorm. The school moved to district lost in the firestorm the you,” Harris said.
“If you lose students mid-year, Roseland University Prep’s old Santa Rosa High School farm on
you’re unable to reduce staff campus on Sebastopol Road af- Alba Lane, just off Old Redwood You can reach Staff Writer
and you’re unable to realize any ter that school got a new campus Highway near Cardinal New- Susan Minichiello at 707-521-
savings,” said Regina Cuculich, a month after the Tubbs fire. man. It plans to rebuild the farm, 5216 or susan.minichiello@
Mark West associate superinten- The Roseland district has which received a $500,000 dona- pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter
dent of business. about 2,900 students enrolled tion from Raley’s grocery store. @susanmini.
 SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 • SECTION H

Rebuild NORTH BAY

BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Students find their lockers as demolition work continues Tuesday at Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa. Schools are facing complex challenges after the fires.

FOCUS ON SCHOOLS

A
s students returned to school this month, for
some, it was their first time back on campus
for class since the worst wildfire in Califor-
nia’s history swept through 10 months ago.
The Tubbs fire destroyed Hidden Valley
Satellite, Anova and Redwood Adeventist Academy
and damaged Cardinal Newman High School, St. Rose
Catholic School and Roseland Collegiate Prep. It also
burned down the Santa Rosa High School farm.
Construction has started on some of the sites, leav-
ing many students to grapple with the emotional chal-
lenges that come with rebuilding a home and a school.
Countywide, about 1,500 students lost homes in the
wildfires.
Schools aren’t just wrestling with the rebuilding
process. They’re also dealing with declining enrollment
as families burned out of their homes decide not to
rebuild and leave the area. Inside, the stories from this
month offer a snapshot of the hurdles schools, teachers
and adminstrators, and students have faced as well as
their plans and hopes for the future.

INSIDE

HOMES TAKING SHAPE
IN LARKFIELD-WIKIUP
Neighborhoods reforming as
residents make push to transform
some open properties into parks.
Page H7
COUNTY EDUCATORS HELP
PUPILS COPE AFTER FIRES
Schoolteachers, administrators
who lost homes find dual benefits
in helping students rebound.
Page H10
HIDDEN VALLEY STUDENTS
RETURN TO NEW NORMAL
Santa Rosa elementary school has
found creative ways to adapt after
losing satellite campus to fire.
Page H13
DISCOVERING HEALING
POWER OF SPORTS
Youth athletes, coaches find
community encouragement while
getting back to what they love.
Page H21

PARTICIPATING SPONSORS
H10 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018

“The staff and the students are my therapy. Just being with them
and seeing them every day keeps me going.”

Helping students,
REGINA CUCULICH, associate superintendent of business for the Mark West Union School District who lost her home in the October wildfires

selves to recover

PHOTOS BY BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

For Regina Cuculich, associate superintendent of business of the Mark West Union School District at John B. Riebli Elementary School in Santa Rosa, the answer for helping herself and the
school recover from the October wildfires was going to work. She has been central to filing all the required insurance and FEMA claims and determining school schedules and budgets.

Sonoma County educators striving to reassure, support children in wake of

October firestorms while also coping with their own personal losses
By GLEN MARTIN

L
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

ike most people who lived in Foun-

taingrove on the night of Oct. 8,
Steve Larson fled just ahead of
the flames. By dawn, Larson, his
girlfriend and the three children they raise
together were at the Santa Rosa fairgrounds,
watching the sun break through the thick
pall of smoke that they knew presaged doom
for their home.
“By 5 a.m., we learned from The Press
Democrat that our neighborhood was gone,”
said Larson, a sixth-grade teacher at John
B. Riebli Elementary School. “My girlfriend
and I grieved maybe 10 minutes, and then we
realized we had three kids looking at us who
needed answers. We decided we could either
wallow in our grief or move forward. So we
moved forward. And we haven’t stopped. In
a lot of ways, we still haven’t found the time
to process our loss.”
And that’s not just because of the three
children in their collective family, Larson
observed. Both he and his partner are educa-
tors, and that meant the students they taught
and counseled every day would be looking to
them for answers — or at least, support.
“Three weeks after we lost our home, I
was back in the classroom, trying to prop up
20 kids,” said Larson. “Last year was tough,
no doubt about it.”
And to a real degree it still is. Classes have
just begun for the new school year, and most
of the kids seem ready and willing to learn.
“But it varies depending on the kid,” Larson
said. “One boy mentioned
to me that he lost his
home, and he seemed to “Kids may be small,
be trying to brush it off.
These guys have endured but they’re resilient.
more than they should
have for people their age.
If you give them
It has to be hard for them,
and I have to recognize
support, they tend
that. Yes, my job is to
teach them and to uphold
to get back on track.”
the educational standards NIESSIA BENEDETTI DIEHL,
of the state of California. student counselor at John B. Riebli
But I can’t force it down Elementary School in Santa Rosa
their throats every day.
I have to look into their eyes and see what
they’re ready for, and frankly, on some days
they’re not ready to fully embrace the lessons
I’m teaching. So then I have to adjust. To keep
them engaged, I have to make sure they stay
loose and have some fun.”
Larson’s story is by no means unique.
Hundreds of Sonoma County students lost
their homes during the fires, along with
150 teachers and administrators. Nearly
11 months later, the disaster continues to
weigh on both educators and students.
Certainly, things seem normal — that is
to say, chaotic — at Proctor Terrace Ele-
mentary School, where the halls swarm
with young children, all of them seemingly
Sixth-grade teacher Steve Larson, who lost his home in the October wildfires, helps 10-year-old Julio
Rivas with a math question Tuesday during class at John B. Riebli Elementary School in Santa Rosa.
yelling and laughing simultaneously. But
some cry on occasion, and at such times
they may see Niessia Benedetti Diehl, the
school’s counselor. Her office at Proctor
Terrace is tiny, appropriate for the physical
dimensions of her clientele. Even the chairs
are downsized. A lot of kids have sat in those
chairs since the night of Oct. 8.
“What struck me most coming back (after
the three-week hiatus
following the fires) was
that every child had a
story to tell,” said Diehl.
“Twelve of our stu-
dents lost homes, but it
wasn’t just them. I had
a 50 percent increase
in the number of kids
I saw when I returned.
Whether they had lost
their homes or not, they
all were feeling loss,
they all were experienc-
ing anxieties. One child
came to me and said, ‘Mrs. Diehl, my dog
keeps coughing from the smoke.’ For a little
kid who loves the family dog, that’s extreme-
ly stressful. It’s real and important, and you
can’t dismiss it.”
Diehl said research confirms that children
benefit immensely from talking about trau-
mas they have experienced. They don’t need
happy talk about looking at the bright side,
emphasized Diehl; in fact, that can be coun-
terproductive. But they do need to talk about
what happened to them with an engaged and
sympathetic listener.
“The evidence is pretty clear that the more
children can tell their stories to people who
care about them, the quicker they recover
from trauma,” Diehl says. “Kids may be
small, but they’re resilient. If you give them
support, they tend to get back on track.”
Diehl, for her part, was more than sympa-
thetic to her young charges; she was empa-
thetic. The Tubbs fire destroyed the home
she shared with her husband and three kids
off Mark West Springs Road. Her house was
burned to the foundation, and three acres of
lovingly landscaped grounds were immolat-
ed, including a 500-year-old oak the family
treasured.
“The house was a fixer-upper when we
bought it 17 years ago, and we really fixed
it up,” said Diehl with a catch in her voice.
“It isn’t about the stuff — it’s about what we
built there, what we had as a family. We’re
planning to rebuild. But it’s difficult to go
back there and see what’s gone.”
The family member who has made the
easiest transition is her oldest son, said Die-
hl. Thanks to his coach at Cardinal Newman
High School, he was able to throw himself
into football immediately after the fires,
and his commitment to the sport has helped
sustain a positive outlook.
For Diehl, Proctor Terrace proved an
anchor of stability.
“What was I going to do, sit at home and
stare at the walls?” she asked rhetorically.
“I was needed here, I had structure and rou-
tines here, I had kids I could help. The school
helped heal me. In some ways, it even helped
saved me.”
Regina Cuculich, associate superinten-
dent of business for the Mark West Union
School District, also found her job a wel-
come — indeed, indispensable — distraction
TURN TO EDUCATORS » PAGE H11
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 H11

EDUCATORS on an individualized basis.

CONTINUED FROM H10
from her own worries. Like Diehl, she
lost her home to the flames, and the red
tape associated with insurance, loans
and contractors has been daunting.
She and her husband, a retired fire-
fighter, plan to rebuild, albeit a smaller
house.
“What makes it worse is seeing so
many other people going through
the same thing,” she said. “It’s really
difficult to grasp the impact of losing
5 percent of the homes in your commu-
nity — 5,500 dwellings, including 1,800
in our (school) district alone. How do
you deal with that?”
For Cuculich, like Diehl, the answer
is relatively straightforward: going
to work every day. At her job, she has
been central to filing all the required
insurance and FEMA claims and deter-
mining school schedules and budgets.
“It just helps me take my mind off
my own problems, and keeps me con-
nected to the issues facing the whole
community,” said Cuculich. “The staff
and the students are my therapy. Just
being with them and seeing them every
day keeps me going.”
As Cuculich intimates, Sonoma
County’s teachers, counselors and
administrators are like everyone else
affected by the fires. For many, the
trauma endures. But in some ways, it’s
worse for educators. They’re not just
feeling their own pain; they’re feeling
the pain of their students as well.
“One of the things you want to
impart to your students is that they’re
safe, they’re secure,” said Tracy Henry,
a third-grade teacher at Schaefer Char-
ter School. “Then their world burns
down, and that lesson may not make
sense to them. They may not believe
you. It can hurt when one of your
kids sees something in the classroom
and says wistfully, ‘Oh, I used to have
something like that.’ What happened
last year was a reminder that these
are children, and their little spirits
are fragile. That’s why we’re working
on the social and emotional areas as
much as academics this year. We want
to build resilience and empathy as
well as help students meet educational
standards.”
That ambition seems to jibe with the
general thinking of the county’s educa-
tional administrators. Mandy Corbin,
assistant superintendent of special
education for the Sonoma County
Office of Education, said the county
used some fire relief funds to enroll
60 school counselors and psychologists
in a course that taught them how to
address student post-traumatic stress
They learned there’s no specific
timeline for recovery from a disaster
A LOOK AT THE REBUILD EFFORT IN SONOMA COUNTY
Stay and rebuild, or sell and leave? It is the big question facing thousands of Sonoma County fire
survivors. The first wave of rebuilding accounts for little more than a quarter of the homes lost in
like the fires. One instructor, an expert the county in October. A smaller number of lots have changed hands or been put up for sale.
in childhood trauma, warned that
many students would still have very
raw feelings when they returned to The big picture on reconstruction in August
school this month.
“He said that if we don’t have ade- 758 14
quate resources available, we’d only be Homes under Homes
adding to their stress. So we’ve been construction rebuilt
doing everything possible to ensure 373
that we’re ready and able to help, and Permits
that our students know that,” Corbin issued
said.
At the same time, many educators
say the label of “fire victim” can be a 457
burden, one that can inhibit emotional
recovery. Henry, for one, doesn’t want
Permits
her students or her school — which is pending
located near Coffey Park — continually
defined by the fires.
“People ask me where I teach, and
when I say Schaefer, this look of pity
comes over their faces,” Henry says.
“We appreciate the sympathy. There
are five kids in my current class who
lost homes. The fire can come up in
conversation, and there can still be
some tears. But being associated first
and foremost with the fires is limiting.
We want to move past that. We want
this school to be a place of joy again,
and we’re working on that.” 5,334
Indeed, the fires seem to have Total
strengthened the bond between edu- homes lost
cators and students, said Will Lyon,
president of the Santa Rosa Teacher’s
Association and an English teacher
at Santa Rosa High School. Returning
to the classroom has been as salutary Property lots in burn zones listed for sale from Nov. 1 to June 30
for the teachers as the students, said
LOTS LISTED LOTS SOLD MEDIAN PRICE IN JUNE
Lyon; the catastrophe of Oct. 8 and its
aftermath made both groups realize
how much they needed each other.
“In some ways, the fires gave us per-
522 271 $242,500
mission to really express how much we
care for the kids and vice versa,” said
Lyon. “Students do better when they
feel that the adults in their lives love Homes lost in October wildfires, by neighborhood*
them. It’s that simple. And I know that Coffey Park, Fountaingrove, Larkfield and Mark West Springs include surrounding areas.
the fires really ignited a strong urge in
teachers to protect their students, no 2,000
matter the cost or effort. Our schools
are a stronger community, a stronger
family, because of the fires.” 1,500 1,729
Even Riebli teacher Steve Larson 1,586 *28 homes in outlying or
1,473 unidentified areas excluded
found a silver lining to the terrifying from neighborhood counts
clouds of smoke that boiled up from 1,000
Fountaingrove last October. While
he, his girlfriend and their combined
brood lost most of their earthly be- 500
longings, they didn’t lose what really 518
mattered — each other.
“Not long after we lost our home, 0
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said. “Losing the house made me real- AND MARK WEST AND BENNETT
ize that the one thing I couldn’t handle SPRINGS VALLEYS
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girlfriend. She’s my wife.” Sources: County of Sonoma, City of Santa Rosa, Pacific Union International THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 H13

Rebuild NORTH BAY

PHOTOS BY JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

School’s new normal

Joy Meacham lines up her kindergarten students for a tour of the campus on the first day of the new school year at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa.

SR’s Hidden Valley Elementary students, staff adapt to wave of postfire change
By DANNY MUELLER tary School was still buzzing

P
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
with energy.
op music bounced “We didn’t know exactly
from the speakers what to expect from over
and reverberated the summer,” said Brad
from the classroom Coscarelli, the school’s new
walls, while kids raced principal.
around the playground, He was sitting next to
tracing loose patterns Kim McKay, a kindergarten
across the pavement as teacher who taught his four
buses rolled into position. children, reflecting on the
School was out for the day, McKenzie Condron, 5, is greeted by companion dog Garth, who promise of a new school year.
was making the rounds to comfort kindergartners on the first day
but Hidden Valley Elemen- of class at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa. TURN TO NORMAL » PAGE H15

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 H15

“When people say, ‘How do you like your new classroom?’

I’m like, ‘It has four walls.’ I have no complaints. I have walls.”
KIM MCKAY, teacher at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa

PHOTOS BY JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Families gather to reconnect in the drop-off area at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa on the first day of the new school year.

NORMAL
CONTINUED FROM H13
In October, the Tubbs fire burned
McKay’s classroom at Hidden Valley Satel-
lite off Parker Road. The school was com-
pletely destroyed in the firestorm, displacing
more than 80 students from kindergarten to
second grade. Hidden Valley Elementary, a
school of more than 500 students, was left
standing. For students displaced by the fire,
the larger campus was both a welcoming
and intimidating place as classes resumed.
“She was terrified, really,” said Julie Lees,
whose 5-year-old daughter, Emily, attended
kindergarten at the satellite campus. Less
than two months into the school year, Emily
had been learning the rules, routines and
rhythms of kindergarten.
She knew her teacher, Ms. McKay, had
taught her older brothers. She had made
friends in her class. Both parents worked at
Keysight Technologies, just a few minutes’ Eunyong Hwang works with her 5-year-old son, Jewoo Han, before class at Hidden Valley Elementary.
walk from her school.
Then, everything changed overnight. ers and the 83 students who followed them focusing on “wellness, on resiliency, on the
October’s Tubbs fire destroyed thousands to the main campus. Reading spaces became health of everybody” in the new school year.
of homes and structures in Santa Rosa, improvised classrooms. Books and dividers A school counselor now works with students
including the Leeses’ Fountaingrove home played the part of walls. With files lost to the on a full-time basis.
and the Hidden Valley Satellite campus. The flames, some teachers had less than two days Even as Hidden Valley starts the school year
massive blaze also damaged several Key- to set up their classrooms and design new united, some parents expressed hope that the
sight office buildings. lesson plans. small satellite campus would be rebuilt.
“We saw our house on fire on the news,” Kim McKay’s classroom was tucked Rick Edson, assistant superintendent
Julie Lees said. “We’d heard about the sat- into a corner of the after-school child care of business services at Santa Rosa City
ellite. We’d seen our house, and now we’re room on the west end of the main campus. Schools, said neither the district nor Key-
thinking our work had burned down as well.” Friends and fellow teachers helped stock her sight Technologies has put forward plans to
Three weeks after the fires, Emily started improvised classroom. She called the period rebuild. But the idea of housing an “edu-
school again — this time, attending Hidden a “complete blur.” cational facility” on the now-cleared patch
Valley Elementary’s main campus. It was a “For us, it was kind of a culture shock,” of land has been discussed in meetings
period of rapid change for the Lees family. McKay said. “We went from a school of 85 between the district and company, he said.
But they were far from alone. to a school up here that was over 500. My “We have had conversations with Key-
Between the two Hidden Valley campuses, kids’ heads were literally on a swivel. It was sight, and there is interest from them to
about a quarter of the student population — information and stimulus overload. “ have some type of educational facility at
around 161 students — lost their homes in Enrollment has fluctuated at the school. that site,” Edson said. “We’re interested in at
October. On the first day of school last year, combined as well. We just don’t know what it’s going to
“I had eight students in my class of 19 who enrollment at the Hidden Valley schools look like at this point.”
had lost their homes and their school,” was 602 students, according to office man- Meanwhile, Kim McKay said she is feeling
McKay said. “They had a new home or living ager Kristin Colgrove. This year, it’s at 537 grateful for the basics.
situation. In addition, they had a new school students — significantly less, but still 19 more “When people say, ‘How do you like your
with a new set of rules.” students than the main campus had last year. new classroom?’ I’m like, ‘It has four walls,’”
Hidden Valley Elementary found creative Coscarelli, the former principal at Santa McKay said. “I have no complaints. I have
ways to accommodate satellite campus teach- Rosa High School, said Hidden Valley is walls.”

BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Kindergarten teacher Kim McKay conducts a student evaluation of Cami Tharp, 5, at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Santa Rosa on Wednesday.
H16 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018

PHOTOS BY JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Students compare notes during an Advancement Via Individual Determination high school class on Aug. 16 at Roseland Collegiate Prep. The school has taken over the site of the former

Displaced, but
Roseland University Prep after parts of their campus was destroyed during the October wildfires.

still determined
Temporary home for
Roseland Collegiate Prep
in converted warehouse
testing resilience of
young charter school
By MELODY KARPINSKI

S
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

aisha Cory found his old sword while

digging through the rubble of his
Mark West Springs home. He had de-
signed it in his father’s machine shop
when he was 15.
It was a few months after the October 2017
wildfires and Cory, then a senior at Roseland
Collegiate Prep, wanted to create a senior
project demonstrating the strength of the
community following the firestorm.
“(When) I got to my old property, I found
the sword that became the centerpiece of my
Middle School teacher Alex Piazza congratulates Maria Hernandez Chavez after a hula hoop contest
art and I knew instantly I wanted to create
during a rally Aug. 16 at Roseland Collegiate Prep.
a statue with it,” said Cory. “I was trying to
come up with what to make when a friend of
mine recommended I do a phoenix and I fell
in love with the idea.”
Cory’s phoenix is a compilation of parts
from his home and parts from the home of
Wendy Valle, a 7th grade teacher at RCP who
also lost her home. The phoenix recently re-
ceived a Best of Show award at the Sonoma
County Fair.
It’s become a symbol for the still rela-
tively young school, whose rented home of
six years on the old Ursuline High School
campus off Old Redwood Highway suffered
severe damage during the wildfires.
“We were in final negotiations and about
to buy when the fires happened,” said Amy
Jones-Kerr, superintendent of the Roseland
School District. “Now, we’ve had the prop-
erty re-appraised and our charter school
foundation is finalizing purchase of the
property as-is.”
The campus lost its gymnasium and
a block of eight classrooms to the fire. A
separate building containing 14 classrooms,
the cafeteria, a covered outdoor eating space
and an additional building called Brecia Hall
were spared. One staff member and 12 RCP
students lost their homes, four of whom
were seniors.
“As a school, we were all deeply saddened
by the loss of our home,” said Daniela
Cabrera, a senior who is the current RCP
Associated Student Body president. “A few
of us even snuck onto the campus as the fire
was burning just to see how damaged our
beloved school was. When the fire ended and
reality struck, we were all dreading going
back to school.”
The Roseland District charter school,
which serves seventh- to 12th-grade students,
was forced to spread its students across two
Roseland elementary campuses for the first
few months following the return to classes.
In December, the campus was able to
reunite, this time on the former Roseland
University Prep campus on Sebastopol Road.
Students who lost their homes received
financial donations and the NFL Oakland
Raiders football team gave clothes and
sports gear to the district.
“It’s basically a warehouse,” said Chris-
tine Byrne, a science teacher who is begin-
ning her second year teaching at the school.
“But I love it because it feels like a ware-
house of knowledge.”
Some of the students had a hard time
adjusting to the idea of taking classes on a
campus that used to belong to their district
rival.
“Imagine having a kingdom as your
school surrounded by nature and then
downgrading to a warehouse. Not just any
warehouse though — your rival school’s,”
said Cabrera. “We had to watch as they got
their new building and we lost ours.”
Despite the uprooting from their original
academic home, RCP students are still find-
ing the support they need.
“I’ve never felt in a more comfortable
place than I do now just because RCP sup-
ports me,” said Ashley Basurto, a sopho-
more at RCP this year.
The warehouse campus will serve as
Roseland’s temporary home, at least for
now. RCP has a lease on the property which
extends through the 2019-20 school year.
“It was really important for us to secure
the lease to the old RUP campus so we could
keep the school together,” said Jones-Kerr.
“We needed to continue focusing on building
our school’s culture.”
Basurto said the student body bonded
despite the upheaval.
“It really caught my attention, because
everyone was united,” said Basurto. “It
touched my heart because I’ve never seen it
like that.”
Basurto had two friends — who happen to
be cousins and were her teammates on the
RCP girls’ soccer team — lose their home
in the fires. She also knew one of the boys’
soccer team players who lost his home.
“It’s hard. My friends are still upset —
they lost the home they grew up in,” said
Basurto. “It’s not something you forget.”
Cabrera noted the school celebrated its
homecoming dance the night before the
fires.
“I spent the last night at school with the
people I love the most and for that I will be
forever grateful,” said Cabrera. “I’m glad
RCP went out with a bang and it was filled
with all the people who love it.”
In the meantime, the campus has cele-
brated unique milestones — like graduating
founding students as a part of the class of
2018 in May. The founding students who
graduated are those who began classes
with the school as 7th graders in the fall of
2012 when the school opened its doors, after
Roseland University Prep had such a long
waiting list it was unable to accommodate all
students.
One of the founding RCP students was
Richmine Sophy, whose College Park home
was just barely spared from the flames.
“We got out around 4 a.m. and I grabbed
my school books because I figured I’d still go
to school the next day,” said Sophy. “When
I heard school burned down I was pretty
devastated.”
Sophy’s home survived, although the flames
stopped a block behind his house. He is now
attending Sonoma State University, majoring
TURN TO ROSELAND » PAGE H18

“As a school, we were all deeply saddened by the loss of our home. ... When the fire
ended and reality struck, we were all dreading going back to school.”
DANIELA CABRERA, Roseland Collegiate Prep senior and Associated Student Body president
 H18
Firefighters, sheriff’s deputies team with school officials to greet students
at Redwood Adventist Academy on the first day of school
A warm welcome back
By ASHLEE RUGGELS
F
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
irefighters and sheriff’s
deputies welcomed Redwood
Adventist Academy students
Monday morning as they
returned to campus nearly a year
after the Tubbs fire wiped out their
entire school.
The Mark West Springs Road
campus looked drastically different
than the one students, faculty and
parents remembered — the fire
had destroyed every single building
on the site, requiring the school to
install portable classrooms for this
school year. Nonetheless, they were
excited to be back together once
again.
“It’s been a stressful, long ride.
Last year was tough,” said Principal
Angie Weems, who worked through
last school year and the summer
to get students back on campus.
“But being back out there has been
energizing.”
Redwood is a close-knit private
school, where roots run deep.
Founded 87 years ago, alumni have
sent their children and grand-
children to the school, which was
located on Wright Road in south-
west Santa Rosa until 1971 when the
Mark West campus was built.
Kaitlyn McGauley, whose 9-year-
old daughter, Kate, attends the
fourth grade, felt students needed
a proper welcoming, so she worked
with faculty and fire and sheriff’s
officials to organize the event on the
first day of school.
“It’s such a close family here,”
McGauley said. “We’re going to
come right on back empowered.”
Deputies handed out to students
sheriff’s badge stickers and pencils,
while parents took pictures, includ-
ing of the firemen who battled the
blaze that overtook the then 128-
student campus.
“It’s really important for us to be
here during the good times as well
as the bad. It’s good to see them
back together as a community,”
Sonoma County sheriff’s Sgt. Spen-
cer Crum said.
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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018
Karen Hancock, a community service officer with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, hands a pencil to Victor Mazariego, 7, on the
first day of class Aug. 20 at the Redwood Adventist Academy campus after the Tubbs fire destroyed the school in October.
For Shawn Johnson, an engineer “Happy,” she said. “Just happy.”
with Rincon Valley Fire, being back While students in kindergarten
on Mark West Springs Road was to eighth grade returned to cam-
personal. He and other firefighters pus, the high school program was
drove their rig on that road during suspended for the year until school
the Tubbs fire, rescuing people from officials can figure out what they
the growing flames. Seeing kids back can afford to rebuild.
on campus brought him comfort. Redwood lost about 25 students,
“We’ve driven by and seen the not counting the high schoolers,
empty lot for months,” Johnson Weems said.
said. Some families relocated after
Students also felt relief being the fires, while others left after the
back on campus. high school program was suspend-
They ran around the blacktop ed.
with friends and peered into the School officials hope to have
colorfully decorated portable rebuild plans approved by Novem-
classrooms. For Kate McGauley, ber so they can begin construction
it was hard to put into words the on a more condensed, modern
excitement. structure.
ROSELAND
CONTINUED FROM H16
in theater arts, but he dropped by the
temporary RCP campus to say hello the
day before school began this month.
“We’re not just a school, we’re a fam-
ily,” said Basurto. “But I’m not used to
being at the warehouse. I would like to
go back to my old campus.”
RCP began classes Aug. 14. The first
day of school produced mixed feelings
among the student body.
“On the first day of school I had this
off feeling (and) I could not wrap my
head around it. All I knew was that
something was off,” said Cabrera. “I
realized this was the first year I would
not be starting at the old campus. I am
a senior this year and it is sad to realize
that I can never have my old school one
last time because all that is left is soil.”
Yet Basurto acknowledges the tragedy
still produced solidarity for the student
body.
“I feel like everything happens for a
reason, and with time everything will go
back into its place,” said Basurto. “It’s
still something that brought the whole
school together.”
Jones-Kerr stated the district would
prefer to see the school return to the
Ursuline campus by the 2019-20 school
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Weems said the rebuilding
process has been drawn-out. The
cleanup was difficult because every
structure, down to the scarred foun-
dation, had to be dug up and land
had to be cleared. Everything needs
to be redone, from plumbing and
electrical lines, which costs a lot of
money and time.
“When you accept a job to be
principal, this is not in the job
description. People forget and move
on to the next thing and we’re still
not recovered. It’s still real, it’s
still raw,” Weems said. “(But) to
drive away from Mark West Spring,
which has been black for so long,
and see lights on campus is some-
thing.”
year, but also recognized rebuilding
efforts could be delayed.
“We’ve also contemplated doing a
soft move, where we have part of the
school return to the old campus, either
the junior high or the high school,” said
Jones-Kerr.
Danielle Yount, the principal of RCP,
stressed the importance of taking time
to prepare the new campus.
“The rebuild will take a while, so we
want to take the time to do it right,” said
Yount.
Cabrera is skeptical about a rebuild
timeline.
“If I am being honest we have not
heard any news about rebuilding and
I have a feeling it will be a long time
until our school will be rebuilt,” said
Cabrera. “I would love to see it rebuilt
for future generations so they can enjoy
it as much as I did.”
Aside from the fire rebuild, Jones-
Kerr noted there is additional land
available for development within the
boundaries of the property the district
is purchasing.
“We have this area of raw land and
of course the former Ursuline campus
which we’ve been on,” said Jones-Kerr.
“What I envision for the new campus is
a clear nod to Ursuline history with a
little Roseland swing.”
Slated for installment on the new
campus? Cory’s phoenix, rising.
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 H19

Reflections on
life’s challenges By HANNAH APPEL AND ASHLEE RUGGELS THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

School resumed more than a week ago

REECE for thousands of Santa Rosa students. LIBERTY
WISLER Some returned for a typical school year, BERTUCCELLI
Senior, Santa Rosa High School
“The most difficult part of
while others were still dealing with the Seventh-grader, Redwood
Adventist Academy
last school year was definitely
staying focused. The fire was
pressures of rebuilding their lives after “(The hardest part was)
hearing about what happened
always on my mind, so I really
got behind on my schoolwork.
October’s devastating wildfires. We asked over and over again and losing
the school. There’s not as many
This year, I’m looking forward
to being in my house again. I’m
seven students who lost a home, school or both people,
are gone.
and some of my friends

really excited for that.

The timetable is probably
around March. It’s my senior
year, and it’s my last chance to
do everything. I think that once
I get settled (in my house), I’ll
finally be able to relax and just
be me.”
about the challenges they faced last year
after the wildfires and their feelings
about this school year.
We haven’t been (on campus)
in a while. Everything is still
kind of new. It’s really surreal.
I don’t know if it will really hit
me for a long time.
I’m glad we are back on cam-
pus, though, and I’m starting
seventh grade.”

SAMANTHA LACEY KELVEN DIEHL BIFFY TOSTI GRACE

BELLINGHAUSEN PARSONS
Junior, Santa Rosa High School
“Probably the most difficult
part was being in a leg brace
and having to evacuate (my
house) on crutches. I had just
had surgery a week or two
before (the fires). I tore my ACL
and my meniscus. I’m the one
who woke everyone up in my
house the night of the fires,
because I was the only one who
was awake, and our power had
gone out.
My fourth quarter (of school)
was completely overwhelming;
we were living at my grandma’s
house, and it was hard trying
to find a place to do homework
since we had a ton of people
living at her house at the time.
This year at school, I’m just
looking forward to doing all the
fun stuff again, like going to
football games.
Outside of school, (I’m
looking forward to) starting
the progress on our new house.
Our goal was to be in by Christ-
mas, but it’s looking more like
May or April now. When we get
into our new house, we have a
big plan. We’re going to have
a big welcome back party. It’s
going to be a big blowout with
lots of food.”
Junior, Maria Carrillo High School
“I think (one of the most
challenging parts of last school
year) was readjusting after the
three-week break, knowing
that I didn’t have any of my
previous work, homework or
textbooks, especially since I
took a few honors and AP class-
es. There was a lot of catching
up to do, and it was hard being
able to put all my focus back on
to school.
(This year, I’m excited to)
be able to start the whole year
with a new outlook and not
have the weight of the fires
anymore. I lived in Coffey
Park, and now we’re living in
a new apartment. It was a very
difficult situation to be in those
first few months, but knowing
that I wasn’t alone in the whole
process (was helpful), especial-
ly at school. Lots of teachers
were helpful with readjusting
and were very flexible with my
schedule, but also I feel that
some did not necessarily take it
to heart and continued giving
homework.”
Junior, Cardinal Newman
High School
“The most challenging part
for me was staying focused on
schoolwork after the fires. It
was tough to concentrate on
what seemed like meaningless
subjects only a few weeks after
our family had lost everything.
To make it even worse, part of
my school, Cardinal Newman,
was lost to the fire. Cardinal
Newman was like my second
home, where I spent so much
time playing sports, learning
and attending school events.
The sophomore class was
taking classes at Our Lady of
Guadalupe Catholic Church in
Windsor. We didn’t have desks
or real classrooms, making it
hard to focus when it didn’t
seem like a real learning envi-
ronment. I’m looking forward
to seeing my friends and play-
ing football and lacrosse this
year at Cardinal Newman.
Our family lived on 3 acres on
Redwood Hill Road off of Mark
West Springs Road. This place
was special to me because it was
the only home I had ever known,
and all of my childhood mem-
ories were created there. Our
home was unique because of its
great views of Riebli Valley and
the city of Santa Rosa. … We
relocated to a converted barn on
a vineyard in west Santa Rosa.
It was a sort of place where our
family could regroup. We had
20 acres of grapes to roam, and
our whole family loved it.”
Senior, Cardinal Newman
High School
STOCKHAM
“I think the hardest part of Senior, Cardinal Newman
last year was (my) routine get- High School
ting messed up. We went from “My sister had to hold up
600 students being on the same the garage door for us to get
campus to each grade being out. When we came out of
separated at different campus- our house, we drove through
es. Overall, it was just a tough flames. But now we’re here.
transition, just because I was Since part of our school
doing sports and junior year burned down, we had a lot of
was academically challenging. moving around to do. The work-
Every day, I was driving 30 min- load was really hard, because
utes south just to go to school in I was so stressed out after the
a gym with 150 students trying fires. I can’t really explain it,
to continue our school year. because it’s so much to look
I think all of us have PTSD. back on. ... I’m looking forward
Our house burned down five to it being my senior year, and
minutes after we left. Every for everything to calm down.
time I imagine my house, I I think of new beginnings.
think of it in flames. Each My house is going to be built
room, in flames. Each piece of soon, and I want to go away
clothing, in flames. to school and become a sports
Since October, we’ve moved reporter.”
13 times. It’s definitely difficult
having to deal with school,
soccer and having to pick up
all my stuff every few months
and move to a new house. It’s a
different situation than most.
So many places we’ve been at,
we’ve just thought, it doesn’t
feel like home.
I’m definitely looking forward
to a change, adapting to the new
environment. I mean, it’s not an
ideal senior year, but I’m also
really excited to graduate.
We are rebuilding, and the
house will be done probably
a year from now, so I won’t be
able to enjoy it, but it will be a
nice new place to come back to.”

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H20
Anova continues to empower autistic students in new portable classrooms
near burned former campus at SR’s Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
A banner with scribbles of encouragement hangs at Anova Center for Education, a Santa Rosa-based school for students with autism. Middle schooler
An enduring mantra
Anthony, right, works on a project in his geography class Tuesday in a portable classroom. The school burned down during the October wildfires.
By MEGHAN HERBST
J
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
ust out of view of Highway
101, a large hole behind Santa
Rosa’s Luther Burbank Center
for the Arts is cordoned off
by a chain-link fence. Until
Tubbs fire came barreling down the
ridge in the early hours of Oct. 9,
this was the site of Anova, a school
for children and young adults with
high-functioning autism.
The school’s co-founder and
CEO, Andrew Bailey, pointed to
the burned-out hole where the
campus used to be, on the east end
of the arts center. The hulk of the
building and melted furniture still
stood in the lot until April, a solemn
reminder for students and teachers
who lived through the heartache of
losing what was to many an educa-
tional and emotion-
al anchor.
In spite of the
devastating loss of
its campus, which
serves 135 students
from San Francis-
co to Mendocino
County, the Anova
Center for Educa-
Andrew
Bailey tion managed to
hold onto its man-
tra of empowerment and strength
in the wake of the October wild-
fires, which also laid waste to the
nearby Fountaingrove and Coffey
Park neighborhoods.
“There was never talk of this is it,
or we won’t be able to recover from
this — we just lost everything,”
Bailey said. “Every-
one on this team,
from the people that
work with the kids
to the people in our
“We’re still
business office to
our board of direc-
in a bit of
tors, just said, ‘you
know what, we have a limbo state
no choice.’”
The Anova team
rallied almost
for now.”
ANDREW BAILEY,
instantly to identify co-founder and CEO of
a site where they Anova Center for Education
could continue to
offer their tailored
educational model to the students
and parents who had come to rely
on it. Three days after the fire
burned through the school, the
school held a meeting for parents,
some who had still not returned to
their homes.
“One of the moms came up to me
and she said, ‘I would rather have
lost my home than lost the school,’”
Bailey recalled. “That is one of the
reasons why it was so important
for us to get back, because this is
these kids’ school. If they can’t
come here, they can’t just go back to
where they were.”
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Anova Center for Education student Jazmin Lanatti, 12, says goodbye to teaching assistant Brenna Hinckley on Tuesday, after
school. The school, which teaches autistic grade school and post-secondary students, was burned in the Tubbs fire, and is now
using portables in the parking lot adjacent to the old campus in Santa Rosa.
Many of Anova’s students came
to the school after enduring hard-
ship at a public or private school,
Bailey said. Students with autism
often face challenges in a regular
school environment, ranging from
overstimulation to
social and behav-
ioral issues. All of
these factors can af-
fect a child’s ability
to learn and grow,
Bailey said.
Bailey, who lives
in Healdsburg, set
to work securing
temporary space
for the school until
they could engineer
a more long-term
solution. Middle
and high school
students moved to the Healdsburg
Community Center, while the
younger students occupied the
former Merryhill Country School
in Bennett Valley, a community
that lost more than 100 homes to the
October fires.
“For them to reach out to us
when they were still dealing with
their maintenance crews fixing
up spaces and cleaning up debris,
that was really pretty remarkable,”
Bailey said.
Classes for the school’s adult
transition program were at its
administrative offices on Airport
1378 Airport Blvd., Santa Rosa
Airport Blvd. exit off 101
707-545-7944
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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018
Boulevard in Santa Rosa.
Meanwhile, Anova negotiated a
lease of the parking lot area behind
the Luther Burbank Center for the
Arts, directly adjacent to their former
building. Donations poured in from
several regional and statewide busi-
nesses, including PG&E, and from
a GoFundMe account set up for the
school, allowing it to install some por-
table classrooms in the parking lot.
Challenges abounded during con-
struction. Anova lost in the fire more
than 15 years’ worth of furniture,
textbooks, computers and instruc-
tional aids. It all needed to be cata-
logued, claimed through insurance
and replaced in the three months it
took to install the portables.
On Feb. 9, students returned to
the Luther Burbank Center site to
“wonderful and heartwarming”
fanfare, said Juliana LeRoy, whose
son, Thomas, is in the 11th grade.
He started at Anova 10 years ago
after struggling to adapt in a special-
needs program at a local public
school.
“The staff at Anova is second
to none,” LeRoy said. “When the
kids were going to be moving to the
different campuses, we got basically
a letter from the teacher with pic-
tures of the various settings in the
room. They had even reproduced
some of the posters that had been in
the classroom to make it as familiar
as possible for the kids.”
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PHOTOS BY KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Thomas is adjusting well to the
new campus, LeRoy said, though
she’s noticed her son watching his
favorite movies and doing repetitive
behaviors more often than usual.
“I think that’s his comfort mecha-
nism,” she said.
LeRoy said she’d eventually like
to see the original campus rebuilt.
“It would be really nice to be able
to have a facility all back in a cohe-
sive setting,” LeRoy said.
The Luther Burbank Center is
meeting with school officials once a
week to discuss the center’s plans
moving forward, Bailey said. They’d
ultimately like to continue leasing
space from the center, though the
future is less than certain.
“We’re still in a bit of a limbo
state for now,” Bailey said. “We
have a lease and that goes for years,
but it remains to be seen whether
this is going to be a long-term solu-
tion for us or not.”
School officials plan to stay at the
site for at least through this school
year, which started Aug. 15.
“We love being here and if there’s
a way we can figure out something
that works for both us and the Lu-
ther Burbank Center then we’ll stay
here,” Bailey said.
“If not,” he added, “we’ll be
thinking about evolving to anoth-
er space or looking at a capital
campaign perhaps to build our own
school.”
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 Running toward
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018 H21

recovery
By KERRY BENEFIELD
Maria Carrillo High athletes, coaches
who lost almost everything in October fires
discover support via healing power of sport

‘M
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

y neighbor was the

one who knocked
on our door,” Maria
Carrillo High senior
Talia Leano remembered. “Thank
God he did.”
Flames from the Tubbs fire were
approaching the family’s neighbor-
hood in Fountaingrove. There was
time to do very little. Leano reached
for something near her — her
cross-country duffle bag — and put
her cat, Arielle, inside. That was all
she took with her.
“I really identify as a runner,”
she said.
But in a matter of hours, she was
a runner with no running shoes, no
sweats, no shorts. And, for a time,
no team.
Leano’s home away from home is
the track and trails she runs with
her teammates. In the wake of the
fires, Leano’s family headed to her
grandfather’s house in Alameda.
Even there, the air quality was so
poor Leano didn’t dare run.
Finally, after what seemed like
forever, the family booked a room
at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa
and Leano re-connected with her
teammates.
And that’s when things that had
been torn apart started coming
together again.
“My teammates were like, ‘Come
to my car, I have a bag full of
clothes for you,’” she said. “It was
so generous.”
Running, and specifically the
cross-country team, proved a cru-
cial part of Leano’s road back from
losing almost everything she owned
in the fires. And it didn’t hurt that
veteran head coach Greg Fogg was
with her every step of the way.
Fogg, too, lost his home that night.
In all, the homes of as many as 12
cross-country and track-and-field
athletes and two coaches burned to
the ground in the fires.
And like Leano, Fogg turned to
running and to his team to get him
through.
“The best thing I could be doing
is coaching, where I’m really away
from all of that,” he said. “I’m there
for the kids because you have to be.”
The support was mutual.
“I can have an OK day at work
and it all goes away at practice. It’s
a very positive thing,” he said. “It’s
the happiest part of their day most
of the time, and I’m there to share
that with them. To see them smile,
that’s good energy for me.”
With so many on the team hav-
ing suffered loss and so much grief
hanging over the community, sport
became a place both of refuge and
a way to fight back. An athlete can’t
control a firestorm but she can con-
trol her workout, her focus and her
drive heading into her crucial junior
season.
“For me, running is what brings
me happiness,” Leano said. “Even
if I didn’t get to go back home after
school, I could still go back to prac-
tice.”
When nothing else was normal,
running was. So her return to work-
Maria Carrillo cross-country runner Talia Leano leads her teammates across a footbridge during practice at Rincon Valley
Community Park on Monday in Santa Rosa. Leano’s family home in Fountaingrove burned during the October firestorm.
Maria Carrillo cross-country coach Greg Fogg talks to runner Aimee Armstrong
during practice at Rincon Valley Community Park, in Santa Rosa on Monday. Fogg
lost his Rincon Valley home during the Tubbs fire in October.
outs and to her teammates was a
major step in finding her way back
from the traumas of the fire.
“It was so fantastic,” she said.
“Anything that was familiar felt
good.”
Still, after that long stretch of not
running, Leano felt that her times
weren’t what she wanted during
her crucial junior season. She
lost a lot of training time during
the three weeks Santa Rosa City
Schools campuses were shut down.
Her workouts were hampered by
not only where she was living but
diminished air quality across the
Bay Area for weeks that lingered
for weeks.
Like everyone else on her team,
Leano did the best she could under
extraordinary circumstances, in
running and in keeping her focus
forward.
“I do really aspire to run in
college,” she said. “I hope college
coaches will take into account our
training was messed up.”
Despite it all, the boys’ team
were crowned North Coast Section
champs. The girls finished second.
At the state meet, the girls took
sixth and the boys, predicted to
podium, fell to 10th.
It speaks to the dominance of the
Pumas’ program that those results
were disappointing for Fogg.
“I think ultimately, the emotional
and physical toll and interruption
in our training made it really diffi-
cult for us to do what we wanted to
do,” Fogg said. “That’s fodder for
this year. Let’s go get what eluded
us.”
Leano, now entering her senior
season, is all in.
“I want to show my coaches and
PHOTOS BY CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
my teammates and myself that I am
improving,” she said.
In reflection, both Fogg and Lea-
no described themselves as lucky.
No, not lucky that they lost their
homes, but lucky their families are
insured, lucky their friends and
neighbors rallied around them,
lucky they had the running commu-
nity to turn to.
“We were very fortunate that peo-
ple were there for us. Knowing that
you have that community behind
you? The whole cross-country com-
munity pulled together,” Fogg said.
Fogg had lived on his Ranchette
Road home in Rincon Valley for
23 years before it burned down.
Only three houses on that dead-end
road were lost. His street formed
the border of the Tubbs fire.
“The Tubbs fire notches out at
our mailbox,” he said.
But Fogg doesn’t wonder how
he was so unlucky, with his home
razed while houses up and down
the street went untouched.
“I have basically concluded that
we were very fortunate,” he said.
Why? Because he and his family
have a neighborhood to return to.
It’s a neighborhood of families who
want the Foggs back. In December,
someone erected a Christmas tree
on their lot and decorated it. A sign
stretches across their yard reading
“Fogg Strong.”
“I don’t remember being overbur-
dened by the tragedy as much as
being touched by the generosity and
thoughtfulness and kindness that
all of that generated,” he said. “It
galvanized the community. It just
made you feel like, ‘This is my town.
I get to rebuild here.’ We never once
were thinking we are not going to
rebuild because our neighborhood
wants us back and needs us back.”

“I don’t remember being overburdened by the tragedy as much as being touched by

the generosity and thoughtfulness and kindness that all of that generated.”
GREG FOGG, Maria Carrillo High School cross-country coach who, like some of the althetes he trains, lost his home to the Tubbs fire

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H22 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2018

A newer Newman rises

SR high school’s
$15M in fire-related
damage erased as
new humanities
building goes up
By CHRISTI WARREN

O
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

n the north side of the Car-

dinal Newman campus,
the charred trunks of oak
trees burned in last Octo-
ber’s Tubbs wildfire are still visible.
They mark the path the fire
took before it reduced the school’s
library to rubble and blackened the
north wall of its eight-classroom
humanities building, causing roof
and smoke damage so severe that
only four of its classrooms were
usable this spring.
The effort to rebuild the San-
ta Rosa campus’s fire-damaged
northside began in earnest this
June, just after students and staff
left for summer vacation. First
came the hazardous material re-
moval, then the rest of the build-
ing’s interiors.
As excited students gathered
outside the Athletic Convocation
Center Aug. 14 for registration day,
demolition crews tore away the last
of the humanities building’s inch-
thick yellow cement facade, their
hammering echoing across campus.
Sophomore Dylan Miller stood
with a group of friends next to the
athletic center, waiting to get his
picture taken. A cardinal red T-shirt
with “Our School United” embla-
zoned across the front was slung
over his shoulders. Designed by
Dean of Student Life Graham Ruth-
erford, the shirts were given out to
students as they arrived on campus.
Enrollment this year was 570 stu-
dents, though administrators hoped
for closer to 590, said Laura Held,
school president. Prior to last year’s
fires, 620 students were enrolled in
the school.
After the fire, Newman’s students
were split up by class: Freshmen
went to Resurrection Parish in
Santa Rosa; sophomores went to
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
Students Patrick Cvitanovic, 15, center left, Abby Salnas, 15, center, and Eddie Calderon, 15, center right, chat with classmates
Aug. 14 at Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa. The school is rebuilding part of its campus after the October wildfires.
in Windsor; the juniors were at St.
Elizabeth Seton Church in Rohnert
Park; and seniors were at St. Joseph
Church in Cotati. They didn’t
return to what remained of their
campus until after winter break.
“I’m excited because it feels like a
fresh start,” said Miller, 15. “It feels
like everything’s going to go how
it’s supposed to go, and it’s going
to make up for what last year was
supposed to be.”
Final design plans for the new
humanities building are nearly fin-
ished, a $4.25 million project helmed
by Santa Rosa-based Quattrocchi
Kwok Architects. John Dybczak,
principal at the firm, watched his
son and daughter graduate from
Cardinal Newman in 2011 and 2015,
respectively, so the school holds a
special place in his heart.
“When I first heard about it, it
sounded like it could be a rumor
because you just don’t expect some-
thing like that is going to happen,”
Dybczak said about the fire. “I was a
parent at Newman for eight con-
secutive years. ... I know everybody
over there.”
In all, the Tubbs fire destroyed
the school’s library, front office and
20 classrooms, causing an estimated
$15 million in damage.
A preschool building Dybczak
designed for the adjacent St. Rose
Catholic School, where his kids also
went, burned down in the fire, too.
“It was sad,” he said. “A lot of
work went into that, and it was a
building that I think a lot of kids
went through and really liked. It
was a great little building for them.”
He expects construction on
Newman’s humanities building to
wrap up in January, just in time
for students to return from winter
break. The nearly 10,000-square-
foot space will feature the same
eight-classroom layout as before,
only with four center walls con-
verted to moving glass partitions,
allowing teachers to use the space
as they see fit.
Each room will have a touch-
screen smart television attached to
BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
the wall and a sound reinforcement
system so teachers can speak into
necklace microphones rather than
shout to be heard at the back of the
class. Large windows will create a
more open feel for the space, which
previously featured narrow plate
glass well above eye level.
“We’re going to have the learning
environments that we’ve talked
about for a long time that will give
teachers a more flexible teaching
space,” Held said. “We can start
to accomplish some of the goals
we’ve talked about — how to better
personalize learning.”
Its open and airy design will serve
as a design model for future build-
ing projects on the campus. The
school is currently working on a
master plan that’ll eventually mean
an overhaul of the entire grounds.
The library, lost in the October fires,
is the next project on the list.
“It’s been a long walk uphill,”
Rutherford said. “You’ve just got to
keep moving, to keep going. ... Now,
we’re going to be able to run a little.”

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