Businesses and residents are being urged to help rebuild a primary school severely damaged by Hurricane Fabian.

It is estimated that it will cost about half a million dollars to restore St. George's Preparatory School, and so far only a tiny fraction of that has been raised.

Five of the school's 12 classrooms were damaged when a tornado ripped through the building during the hurricane a month ago, also wiping out the administration offices, part of the roof and walls.

But principal of the aided school Mary Lodge said she was hoping to have the school rebuilt within 18 months to two years, and has appealed to people to assist through the school's Disaster Relief Fund.

She said about $2,000 had been donated so far, and she was due to collect a cheque for $15,000 on Friday from Allied World Assurance Company (AWAC). "We have had support from different community groups and we have had donations from some companies in town," said Mrs. Lodge. "The relief fund is something that we set up with our trustees and we now have a fundraising committee in place, so hopefully, things will begin to move for us.

"We have got about $2,000 in this relief fund so far, but we obviously need a lot more than that."

Two weeks after the category three hurricane hit, the 147 students aged between five and 11 from St. George's Prep were moved to the Old Town's community centre for lessons.

Some classes have had to be combined due to lack of space, there is only one phone line into the school, and teachers and students must share bathrooms, but everyone is working hard and bearing up under the strain.

Most classrooms look like any other, with colourful backdrops adorning the walls and name tags on chairs and hooks, but Mrs. Lodge said she and her staff were eager to return to the old site as soon as possible.

She is hoping to be able to resume lessons at the proper site later this year with the help of a number of portable classrooms, but in the meantime is asking for financial help from the community so the school can be rebuilt.

Anyone who would like to assist the school with donations should call Mrs. Lodge on 297-0370, or e-mail the school at gprepbbsr.edu.