Granville Homes donates books and gift cards to Fresno school after fire and vandals damage classrooms

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Granville Homes surprised students at Edith B. Elementary School in Fresno with hundreds of books after their library was destroyed in a fire.

The incident happened back in September. Firefighters said someone broke in and set small fires in a kindergarten classroom. The sprinkler system was activated and helped stop the spread, however, there was still major damage.

Stacy Xiong, the kindergarten teacher, said her students lost nearly everything.

"My classroom was completely bare. There was nothing in there. So no supplies and everything was gone and I felt sad," she said.

The students have been learning in another classroom for about two weeks.

Xiong said her students are asking a lot of questions about why they cannot go into their room.

" I told them that, 'Our classroom did get burned and apparently there are some people who made bad choices, but its' okay we are all safe. We are going to get materials back. We are going to get our own classroom back, but it just takes time'," Xiong explained.

Granville Homes learned about the fire and wanted to give back, especially since this wasn't the first incident of vandalism at this school. In a second grade classroom vandals damaged a pet container.

"It's very unfortunate things like this are happening and that student resources that they use in their daily life to grow and become educated are torn and taken away from them," said Veronique Parker, who is the Marketing Coordinator with Granville Homes.

Parker said that education is a high priority for Granville Homes.

"We think just being able to provide students with these resources and books to help them become education and just continue to grow is just so important to the students and the community as a whole as future generations grow," she said.

Parker explained they reached out to their employees and the community for donations.

They received over 300 books for the kindergartners to rebuild their library.

Xiong and the other teacher both received a $250 to buy supplies for their rooms and they are already making a list of items their students will need.

"Magnify classes for my students for when they are at their science center, pillow cushions for them when they are at the library center and things like that, math and games activities," Xiong said.

The kids also were treated to a pizza party.

According to the Fresno Unified School District there is no estimated time as to when the cleanup and renovations to the kindergarten class will be done because they are working to get rid of the smell left behind by the fire.

At last check the suspects have not been caught.

Fresno Fire Department Arson Hotline at 621-2776.