In the aftermath of a devastating fire, the University Lab School is turning to the community for much-needed support.

When the school's performance and physical education center burned down on Tuesday, it left the school with losses estimated at $1 million.

Now the lab school is without facilities for all its performing arts, from drama to hula. Its music department will have to replace band and orchestra instruments. And its physical education and athletic departments will need all new gear and team uniforms for the coming year.

There's still time to recover, but the public will have to do its part.

This is not the first time that the school has been forced to rally. Five years ago, the University of Hawai'i cut the school's $1 million instructional budget. It has survived on parent fundraising and by reinventing itself as a charter school eligible for public education funds, which amounts to $2 million a year.

That's actually turned out to be a great deal for the school which has turned back threat of closure. Some 420 kindergarten to 12th grade students get what's been regarded as a first-class public school education. And UH's curriculum development program with the College of Education continues to run the lab school as a research and development arm to test new teaching methods.

Indeed, the public has showed its approval in the demand for admission — 1,200 applicants for every 60 slots.

Now the school is in survival mode once again, and needs your help.