Educators and students are mourning the death of a Southern California high school teacher who hung herself inside her art classroom Monday morning.

Students and teachers at the El Dorado High School in Placentia, Orange County found the popular 31-year-old photography teacher hanging from the ceiling around 8:30 a.m. on Monday, reports the Associated Press.

Police say that the body of the woman, identified as Jillian Jacobson, was discovered when two of students from her first period photography class noticed that her classroom was locked. They then notified another teacher who unlocked the door to let them inside. However, that's when the teacher saw Jacobson's body and let out a scream in disbelief.

"The preliminary investigation indicates it was a suicide," said Placentia police Lt. Eric Point, reports the Los Angeles Times.

"She appears to have committed suicide prior to the start of school at some point in time," he added.

Paramedics could not revive her and pronounced her dead on the scene.

Following the incident, grief counselors were summoned to the campus and students were let out of school at 11 a.m. A vigil was also held Monday night to honor the photography instructor affably known as Mrs. Jacobson.

Frank Leon, a 16-year-old student at El Dorado, said he heard his teacher screaming, "Oh my God, oh my God!" when she walked into Jacobson's classroom.

"It freaked the hell out of me," he said.

"It's sad for the students and fellow teachers who witnessed that," said Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority.

At the vigil on Monday, students remembered Jacobson as a positive and happy person.

"She was just one of those people you could come to for anything. She didn't judge you. She always had a smile on her face. She cared about you," said student Maddie Ornelas to ABC7.

Patricia Gibbs, an instructional aide who worked with Jacobson, said "Mrs. Jacobson was always in a great mood, every time I saw her on campus, any time I had to work in a classroom with her. She was just always spot on – never gave any indication at all that she was having any problems, personal or otherwise."

A former student named Kylie Bentley questioned if something could have been done to prevent Jacobson's suicide.

"What could we have done? What could we have said or something to help her because she would even talk to us about how suicide was not the answer," she said at the vigil.