CORVALLIS, Ore. - Ryan Garrette would have started 1st grade at Lincoln Elementary School this fall.

The 6-year-old boy drowned Aug. 10 in the Calapooia River while swimming with his family at Pioneer Park in Brownsville, the Linn County Sheriff's Office said.

Paramedics restarted his heart at the scene, and he was rushed to Portland by ambulance where he later died at the hospital.

The loss left the school where he attended kindergarten grappling with grief and how to best help his classmates.

"He was a little guy with a big personality, and he'll be missed here very much," Lincoln principal Lisa Horlan told KVAL News.

The school sent a letter to parents and contacted families of Garrette's classmates to let them know about what happened. Grief counselors will be available at the school Wednesday to help children cope with the death, Horlan said.

Garrette's family established an account in his name at Wells Fargo to help defray the cost of his burial.