Jackie Senis is happy to send her two children 25 minutes away to Brentwood, where another school had empty rooms to accommodate the entire student body from Palisades Charter Elementary School, driven from their campus by deadly wildfires.
“LAUSD pulled off the impossible by finding us a functional classroom and giving our teachers and our principal some autonomy and space to move forward in,” said Senis, a producer who creates television commercials.
On Tuesday, the parents and children had a picnic at their new school, the Brentwood Science Magnet.
She hasn’t had the strength to see their longtime elementary school “in person” after it burned in the Palisades fire, so she looked at photos online.
The Los Angeles Unified School District opened schools across the district on Monday and resumed classes on Jan. 15 at alternative locations for schools that were impacted by the wildfires.
Students from Palisades Charter Elementary School started school on Wednesday at Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School, and students from Marquez Charter Elementary had their classes at Nora Sterry Elementary on the Westside.
“Schools will have a regular day, as teachers have worked around the clock to prepare classrooms,” according to the district.
Seven LAUSD schools remain in evacuation zones, and their students have been temporarily relocated to alternate sites for the rest of the week:
● Topanga Elementary to Woodland Hills Academy;
● Canyon Charter Elementary to Brockton Elementary School;
● Kenter Canyon Elementary to Emerson Middle School;
● Lanai Road Elementary to Portola Middle School;
● Roscomare Road Elementary to Warner Elementary School;
● Community Charter Magnet to Westwood Elementary School; and
● Paul Revere Middle to University High School Charter
A meal distribution site will continue for these communities at Webster Middle School from 9 a.m. to noon daily.
The fires this month have had a sweeping impact on schools, especially for the nation’s second-largest school district. The fires caused the most extensive school closures since the COVID-19 pandemic, when LAUSD closed down its schools on March 16, 2020 and reopened for in-person learning in April, 2021.
Parents were asked to visit lausd.org for updated information.
Due to the Palisades and Eaton fires, LAUSD schools were initially closed on Wednesday, Jan. 8 because of poor air quality caused by the raging wildfires. Scores of schools across the Los Angeles area — public, private and parochial — were closed.
On Sunday evening, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said he would reopen all schools and offices aside from schools that remained in a mandatory evacuation zone, and on Monday most LAUSD schools were open for classes.
Many districts have returned to their usual schedules. But some remain closed. Schools in Malibu stayed shut until Jan. 13-15. La Canada Unified School District will remain closed until Jan. 16.
Things remained uncertain in Pasadena Unified School District.
A prepared statement from PUSD released on January 14 said, “As our community continues to navigate the devastating impacts of the Eaton Fire, Pasadena Unified School District has been assessing the damage sustained across our campuses. Five PUSD school sites have been severely impacted: Eliot Arts Magnet Middle School, Franklin Elementary (closed in 2020), and three charter schools—Edison, Loma Alta, and Noyes.”
The school district is “actively assessing the extent of the damage and planning for the path forward toensure the continuity of student learning. Our grounds and facilities crews have also been workingtirelessly to replace air filters and clean and sanitize campuses, removing more than ten tons of debris. Inthe interim, PUSD schools will remain closed until Friday, Jan. 17, as we work on our reopening strategy.”