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Local school opens arms to Katrina refugees

TRACY X. MIGUEL, tmiguel@naplesnews.com

Friday, September 9, 2005

Waiting for her on the first day of school there was a banner hung at St. Ann School in Naples that said, "Welcome Rachael Sachs from New Orleans."

Rachael's mother Debbie Sachs, of Mandeville, La., cried, yet Rachael was excited about returning to the third grade on Tuesday.

Rachael is one of six students from the Gulf Coast who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina and now enrolled in St. Ann School.

They are among at least three dozen students displaced by the hurricane enrolled in Collier County.

"When I first got here I just cried, not because I was sad, but because every one was really nice," said Debbie Sachs, 45.

But by the second day, 8-year-old Rachael began to ask her mother if she would see her friends again.

"I tell her she will," she said.

The following day Rachael didn't go to school, but made it to the open house.

She went from a small nondenominational private school to a larger Catholic school.

On Thursday, Rachael asked her mother if she could stay at school until after recess.

"I like it because the people are really nice ... the nurse is nice and I love everything about it," said Rachael.

Sachs said she has made it clear to the school that the family will pay tuition once they can get their money out from a local bank.

The school told her not to worry about it and showered the family with clothes, including the school uniform, gift certificates to Publix, and even offered them a place to live.

"They are like little angels watching over people," she said.

Not only did the school help the family with enrollment, but director of development Mary Parent's husband, Thomas, helped with medical needs for Sachs' parents and grandparents.

"At first it was people caring for strangers, but now I don't feel like a stranger," said Sachs. "It's like I have been adopted by the community."

Rachael understands what a hurricane is because she saw the trees come crashing down from the windows, but doesn't understand the ramifications, her mother said.

Sachs said her daughter is still apprehensive and is worried that her mother will leave her at school and not return for her, yet day by day she realizes that she will be all right.

"I do miss my friends and teacher, but I'm getting to know my teacher and the girls," she said.

And now, as the water from Katrina begins to drain in New Orleans, the Sachs family have considered relocating to Naples.

"I'm afraid to go back to the city (New Orleans). I'm afraid I will not be able to handle what I see," she said.

Also, she doesn't want to return with her elderly family nor her daughter because she is concerned about the diseases.

Before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Sachs' 90-year-old grandparents, parents, husband, and Rachael fled to her sister's house in Covington, La.

Rachael brought her dog, her first doll, few clothes and books, leaving behind her cat. She slept on a patio for days.

Sachs said she went back to see her house that was completely submerged.

"It was in an island full of debris," she said.

As the waters kept working their devastation on the Gulf Coast, they lived without electricity and water for three days, so they decided to move into her sister's condo to Fort Myers.

After living four days in Fort Myers and sharing the condo with 11 family members, they decided to move to Naples because they heard about St. Ann School and needed to give her ill mother more space.

What also helped was that a family member offered them a place to live at a condo in Naples.

"I feel extremely blessed to be able to live like this. I feel guilty to see all the people in shelters (on TV)," she said.

She said they got to take what was most important: her family and their dog.

"The hardest thing was to come here and not know if the rest of the family was alive," she said.

One by one, the family started showing up scattered around the United States, yet alive. Sachs still worries about her friends in the New Orleans.

Even though she and her husband are unsure about their jobs, she feels secure, she said.

"I hope that everyone encounters people like I have encountered here," she said of the evacuees.

St. Ann School National Honor Society middle-schoolers will be collecting money donations for hurricane evacuees today as parents drop off and pick up their children from 7:45 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. The public is welcomed to participate.

As of Thursday, Collier County public schools had officially enrolled 18 students.

One student has enrolled at St. John Neumann.

Mike Hoffman, assistant principal said they are expecting more and they are ready to help them and make sure to house any family.

Two middle school students displaced by Katrina are enrolled at The Community School of Naples. The school will waive the usual paperwork for displaced students but they must take a placement exam, said Kelly Hammer, director of communications and admissions for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade at the school in North Naples.

The school has added its availability on the Florida Council of Independent Schools Web site.

Ten students have enrolled at Seacrest Country Day.

Seacrest Country Day has partnered with the National Association of Independent Schools and Florida Council of Independent Schools. It is using the National Association of Independent Schools official Web site at www.nais.org to get the word out that the school's doors are open.

School officials say they will not turn anyone away.

"We have everything to offer them, from clothing to homes to classrooms and a lot of love and care," said Vega.

© 2007 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA by the E.W. Scripps Co.

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