All five rooms, which were in the same wing of the building, are closed off for now. The arsonist used either a match or a lighter, Alver said, and someone apparently saw a juvenile running from the area. Shalom School hasn't faced such vandalism in the past. In addition to dealing with the charred kindergarten and second-grade classrooms, school leaders are working on the emotional damage to the 300 students and their teachers. The kids feel violated.
Kids feel their own things burned.
Many of the teachers are disturbed by what happened. Everything inside the two classrooms, including prayer books, tefillin, children's artwork and teachers' materials, was destroyed. Lizzy, the second grade's pet lizard, died in the fire. Other pets survived, though. Fluffy, the second-grade's hamster, was home with a student's family over the weekend.