A parent and child embrace as students are welcomed to Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet on Jan. 15.
Credit: Mallika Seshadri / EdSource
Tanya Reyes, a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, initially tried to befriend her reality.
But when her husband sent her a video of her Altadena home up in flames, and she heard him cry, she had to press pause.
“I’ve only watched parts of it, but I know at one point he starts crying. … It just felt surreal,” Reyes said. “We’re worried about our neighbors, worried about who’s safe, the peacocks that lived on our street.”
“I’m from Maui, so it feels like Lahaina, all over again.”
It was Wednesday, Jan. 8 — roughly 24 hours after she, her husband and three daughters unknowingly left their home for good and drove to a relative’s house in West Hollywood with just two items each and a few critical documents.
When it was finally time to break the news to her three daughters, Reyes asked: “What’s the most important thing that we have?”
She hoped the kids would come back with “each other.”
Instead, her daughters said: “A house!’”
“And then we told them, and my eldest daughter just kind of wanted to keep watching the video that he (her husband) had taken. And then, she started journaling ‘The day I lost my house,’ Reyes said.
“And then that night, from like 3 to 4:30 in the morning, my 3-year-old, who normally sleeps, spent the hour and a half telling me everything that she missed.”
Reyes, who works with pregnant girls and young mothers, is among thousands of teachers, staff and students across Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD )and Pasadena Unified reeling from evacuations and losses associated with the Palisades and Eaton fires that have ravaged nearly 60 square miles, including at least 10 schools — all while schools are reopening and attempting to restore a sense of normalcy to children who have lost everything.
Pasadena Unified looks to a gradual reopening
Reyes isn’t just a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She’s also a mom of two students in Pasadena Unified, the hardest hit by the Eaton fire.
Longfellow Elementary, her daughters’ school, is one of the lucky ones that’s still standing.
Five district-run schools and three of its charters schools are either seriously damaged or destroyed.
More than 1,300 employees in Pasadena Unified lived in evacuation zones, and Jonathan Gardner, the president of United Teachers of Pasadena, the teachers union, told The New York Times that roughly 300 had lost their homes.
The vast majority of students were displaced, too. Of Pasadena Unified’s 14,000 students, about 10,000 had to leave their homes, according to a district media release.
“In times of hardship, our district community has always shown remarkable strength and unity, and this time is no different,” board President Jennifer Hall Lee said in a statement.
“The challenges of the Eaton Fire have tested us in unthinkable ways,” she added. “Yet I am still struck by how much resilience and compassion I have seen from our community. This has truly been a testament to the spirit of Pasadena Unified.”
A lot lies ahead on Pasadena Unified’s road to recovery. To begin a phased reopening, 10 of the district’s schools and programs that collectively serve over 3,400 students will reopen on Thursday, prioritizing schools that are furthest away from the fires and deemed safe through testing by the California Office of Emergency Services.
A large-scale cleanup is also underway, involving the district’s maintenance and operations team and more than 1,500 contractors, according to the district.
So far, 82 tons of debris have been removed from schools, according to a media release issued Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, the district welcomed back about 2,700 teachers, staff and administrators on Wednesday morning.
“I’m really proud of my Longfellow Elementary,” Reyes said.
And when the staff at the low-income community school found out Reyes and her family had lost everything, they jumped in to help.
“They sent out emails of everyone you could be in contact with: ‘here’s this person; here’s Connie; here’s Monica; here’s who can help you if you need help with anything.’”
Palisades Charter High School seeking a home
Known for its appearances in films such as “Carrie” and “Freaky Friday,” Palisades Charter High School is a long way from reopening.
Roughly 40% of the campus was damaged or destroyed by the fires, according to the Los Angeles Times — but the school’s leaders are still seeking a temporary place to call home.
In the meantime, students will learn online.
“We have a unique opportunity to show the strength and resilience of our community in the face of adversity,” said Pamela Magee, the school’s principal and executive director, in a Jan. 13 media release.
“By coming together, we can ensure our students can stay in their learning environment, with their friends and mentors, at a time when they need it most.”
Students embark on a new normal at Los Angeles Unified
At 11:15 a.m. on Jan. 7, teachers and staff at Marquez Elementary School were informed they had to evacuate the school immediately.
A dark cloud of smoke hovered above the yard where everyone convened. They could see fires on the hillside.
Students, who ranged from 4-year-olds to third graders “were put on a school bus and sent out over to another school, where the parents were told they could pick them up,” said Wendy Connor, a veteran first grade teacher. “Half of (the kids) are crying. Half of them aren’t. They’re all trying to help each other.”
Just over a week later, 353 of the 722 students who attended LAUSD’s Marquez Elementary and Palisades Charter Elementary resumed their school year — but there was nothing normal about their circumstances.
Their schools had been burnt down. Some of them had also lost their homes, and now the students found themselves on a new campus altogether.
But the students made their transition as one class to Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet and Nora Sterry Elementary School. They are still learning from the same teachers and are studying alongside their same classmates.
“Not one of them has said, ‘I don’t want to be here,’ or ‘I want to be with my mommy or my daddy,’” Connor said. “They’re all just like, ‘Oh, where do I line up? Let’s go! We’re ready to go!’”
However, she added, many students who lost their homes have not yet returned. And many parents and school employees remain concerned about the toll the fires will have on students’ mental health in the short term and the long run.
The district has compiled resources for LAUSD communities to access mental health resources, among other wraparound supports, including telehealth options, a 24/7 support line and access to wellness centers.
Debra Duardo, Los Angeles County superintendent of schools, also emphasized the need to curb students’ social media use, so students are not watching videos repeatedly of homes and familiar spaces being burnt to ash.
She also said it is critical for parents and adults to stay calm and model positive coping strategies.
“They’re resilient, like you wouldn’t believe,” said Cecily Myart-Cruz, the president of UTLA, the district’s teachers union, speaking during an elementary school visit. “My son lost his father two years ago, just unexpectedly. And I’m in the throes of the ebbs and flows of grief. And that’s what I saw today.”
Teachers and staff across the district are struggling, too.
Of the 10% of UTLA’s members that had been assessed as of Jan. 15, Myart-Cruz said 539 members had been displaced, and the homes of 136 members were either destroyed or damaged.
Meanwhile, more than 100,000 teachers reported experiencing medical complications as a result of the fires, including respiratory issues, and more than 1,000 said they are unable to work because they are dealing with other extenuating circumstances, like helping family members who have lost their homes, according to Myart-Cruz.
While Connor’s home and family are safe, she admits to having much higher stress levels and a higher heart rate at times.
Connor grew up in the Palisades — and is coming to terms with her loss — her childhood home, her old school and Marquez Elementary all gone.
But she is holding onto a glimmer of hope — three classrooms in the middle of Marquez Elementary remain standing. Her old room was one of them.
“I’ve been anxious trying to … go into the room and see if there’s anything I could save,” Connor said. “And then, I just had to put most feelings aside, so that I could get the (new) classroom ready and get going for the kids.”
