Students Rally Support For Fellow Montessori School Following Devastating Los Angeles Fires

PORTLAND, Ore. (Feb. 18, 2025) — A group of elementary girls gently lower a delicate lattice of fossils into a donation box. Students and community leaders spend days gathering anything from epoxy-encased scorpions to preserved deer jaw. As handmade artifacts and prized specimens pile up, the efforts are only just beginning at Portland’s Childpeace Montessori School.

Miles away, a fellow school recovers after a wildlife robbed it of decades of history.

When the Eaton Fire ravaged more than 14,000 acres in the Los Angeles area, Oak Knoll Montessori School became one of many institutions to suffer devastating loss. Oak Knoll’s expansive Altadena campus burned to the ground—along with 25 years of memories, connections and cherished traditions. Only ashes remained where generations of students once thrived.

But in the wake of total destruction, hope glowed in the embers. 

Over the last month, Oak Knoll’s close-knit community mobilized to raise nearly $120,000. The funds were crucial to restore the Loma Alta campus and support displaced Montessori guides and families. But the funds can only buy new materials. What will be sorely missed are hand-crafted materials Montessori guides make and distinct specimens which cannot be purchased.

Students from Childpeace Montessori School refused to let a fellow school lose its vibrant spirit.

Bursting with passion, a few young girls brought their Montessori guide three fossils from a classroom shelf and asked, “Why do we have three, Greg?”

Their enthusiasm inspired a solid collection that will help Oak Knoll recreate the beauty of a Montessori environment. Donations poured in. 

Oceanic relics like sand dollars and corals joined handwrought antiquities like bone knives and ocarinas. Kalimbas, tambourines and drums were sent to bring music back to Oak Knoll. The community gathered earthly remnants like arrowheads and geodes to foster a spirit of exploration in students who have already lost so much.

Thanks to the outpour of compassion, a timeless Montessori tradition also found its way back to Oak Knoll in the form of the Long Black Strip.

The seemingly-innocuous strip of black fabric is used by Montessori guides to teach children about the age of Earth. Typically 100 feet long, each quarter inch represents 1 million years. Humans emerge at the very end of the strip, representing the shortness of human history within Earth’s lifetime—a lesson on humility that has taken on a new meaning following Eaton.

While Childpeace’s efforts may not undo the damage caused by the Los Angeles fires, Oak Knoll students can seek comfort in familiar traditions and the support of their community.

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster so heartbreaking, Oak Knoll’s recovery seemed hopeless. However, the actions of students as young as elementary age prove that there is still history to be made.

Resilience, a cornerstone of the Montessori education, cannot be burned away.