ARCADIA, Calif. (KABC) -- For 15 years, Village Playgarden has used nature to teach its preschool and kindergarten students in Altadena.

In January, the school, its farm and gardens were wiped out in the Eaton Fire.

"It's been very hard," said Village Playgarden Director Geoff Ramsey-Ray. "We've lost more than half our business. Of the 30 kids a day, that's really more like 45 families who were attending, more than half of them lost their homes and have been scattered to the winds."

He said he plans to rebuild, but in the meantime, the school has settled into Barnhart School, a middle school in Arcadia.

"We feel we have come through it, so there's a lot of optimism for sure," said Ramsey-Ray.

Less than half of Village Playgarden's students are set to return for the new school year,

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