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Volunteers Rally To Reopen Crest View Elementary In Boulder

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - There's another success story as Colorado recovers from devastating flooding.

Two weeks ago the scene in North Boulder was of flooded streets and mudslides. More than 600 students were displaced when flood waters filled Crest View Elementary School. Now the school is getting ready to reopen after volunteers came out of the woodwork to get the school back on track.

"Four times I believe that it flooded," teacher Caitlin Razey said.

Now the flood waters are gone, taking with them desks and school supplies, but not school spirit.

"It took me seven days to put my classroom together by myself, and it took four hours with five people in here helping," Razey said.

For the past two weeks contractors, teachers and more than 150 volunteers have been working around the clock to get the bell to ring once again.

"It's a great community, they pulled together for this and we couldn't have done it without them," Principal Ned Levine said.

"I drove by just a few days after it happened and was just shocked by the amount of mud and debris," volunteer Lesley Smith said.

Although students will be using things like boxes instead of bookshelves, school staff says getting back to learning is key.

"Part of it is it's your environment, but most of it is what you do in your environment that's important," Levine said.

School staff plans to put in permanent carpet during fall break, but they still say it will be a long time before things are back to normal. They are considering making school days a few minutes longer to make up lost teaching time, but for now they're just eager to get the students back to learning.

"We are just pushing ahead to try to get back into business," Levine said.

For their first lesson Razey's first-graders will be writing about the floods and sharing their stories.

"First-graders will tell you anything, so we will see what they come up with," Razey said.

Jamestown Elementary in the Boulder Valley School District will likely remain closed until spring.

Colorado Floods: How To Help

The recent floods are impacting families and communities throughout Colorado, so CBS4 has compiled a list of ways you can support the local communities impacted by the floods.

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