Shelters in Dallas are filled with families from around Texas trying to escape Hurricane Harvey and its flooding.
Now, Dallas schools are working to help the children who evacuated get a little closer to feeling normal by opening their doors and their hearts.
Going to a brand new school is never easy, and it's even harder when you're far from home living in a shelter.
Every morning 39 children at the Walnut Hill Recreation Center shelter in Dallas pile into buses together while their families figure out their next steps.
"Right now we don't tell them too much. We try to keep them calm. They see us get upset [and] we try to keep them away so they don't have to worry,"said Hillary Poullard, of Beaumont.
The children join the students at Good Shepherd Episcopal School.
"This school is not like my other school. I like this school," said 8-year-old Harvey evacuee Joseph Compton.
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Poullard has been trying to keep up with the news from back home.
"They are getting hammered right now. I've been up since 4 this morning, worried about family and friends out there," Poullard said.
But the students are kept comfortable and distracted.
"For lunch we don't have to buy no snacks. We get it for free," 9-year-old Diamond Compton said, smiling.
The focus on those little things makes all the difference when the reality of the situation is never far from these young minds.
"Because Hurricane Harvey has destroyed our house," Diamond said.
"Sometimes I cry," Joseph added.
Compassion and love is something not taught in books. They are lessons these youngsters will never forget in a week where perfect strangers made them feel like family.
Good Shepard is working to help the students get enrolled at Dallas Independent School District campuses.
The Dallas ISD has issued a call for donations for students displaced by Harvey.
The district is accepting white collared shirts, khaki pants, brown or black belts, backpacks and school supplies for grades K to 12 at the Dallas ISD's Education Center, located at 9400 North Central Expressway, during business hours through Sept. 8.
