Pali High students return to original campus 1 year after Palisades Fire

After a year of recovery, students at Palisades Charter High School will finally be returning to their original campus, one year after the devastating Palisades Fire caused destruction to their community.

"I'm looking forward to just being back on our original campus," said Tiffany Jensen, a junior. "It's just so beautiful, I know it's a little bit different, but there is nothing like our campus."

For the last year, families have been living with the shock and the disruption left behind by the January fires. Classrooms were lost and routines were shattered when flames ripped through thousands of homes and buildings.

Since the fires, families have been living with aftershocks, trying to hold onto normal.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is rebuilding three schools damaged or destroyed, including Marquez Charter Elementary and Palisades Charter Elementary, which were burned to the ground. The district's goal is to rebuild by fall 2028 or sooner.

At Pali High, the damage was still massive: officials say nearly 35% of the campus was destroyed. Parts of the "J" building, which had more than 36 classrooms, offices and the baseball diamond, were lost. The entire campus was impacted by fire debris and environmental factors, so every space had to be cleaned, tested and cleared.

"Every single space in the school has been tested, it was contaminated, sanitized and tested," said Rafael Negroe, director of operations. "We have not had access to it until it was fully made clear by environmentalists, so it is safe."

Students spent the last year at the old Sears building in Santa Monica and now they're coming back to a campus that's still a work in progress with temporary bungalows, ongoing construction and the LAUSD is planning a new state-of-the-art building to replace what was lost. 

School officials are still bringing in new furniture and appliances, trying to make this feel like home again.

"Lots of cleanup, lots of removal of debris, taking out a lot of the areas that were destroyed by the fires," said Dr. Pam Magee, the executive director and principal of the school. "But then coming in and planting, replacing landscaping. Putting in new trees, looking at classrooms to make sure they are fully cleaned."

When students arrived on Tuesday morning, they were welcomed by student ambassadors, the Pali High band and faculty.

Pali High opening its doors again feels like hope for a lot of people.