Coming Home After the Fire: Pali High Reopens Its Doors

Palisades Charter High students return to campus one year after wildfire

After a year of upheaval, loss, and resilience, the Dolphins finally return to their hill by the sea

Pali High Reopens Its Doors

For the first time in more than a year, the hill overlooking the Pacific at Palisades Charter High School was alive again. Early Tuesday morning, students climbed the familiar slope, greeted by cheers, pom-poms, and handmade signs that read “Welcome Back!” Blue and white filled the entrance as parents celebrated what felt less like an ordinary school day and more like a homecoming long overdue.

The Palisades fire maelstrom had damaged and shut down the beloved campus, scattering students across online classrooms, temporary spaces, and borrowed athletic fields. Now, even with lingering scars and construction plans stretching years into the future, the simple act of walking back onto campus carried deep meaning.

Many students arrived groggy from the early hour, but their smiles and waves revealed a swirl of emotions — relief, excitement, sadness, and disbelief.

“So much has changed for all of us,” said junior Roxie Bakhtari. “It was crazy to resume where we were. … My history teacher actually had the writing on his whiteboard from our last day here a year ago.”

For seniors like Alice Amorim, the return was bittersweet. Nearly a quarter of her high school experience had unfolded away from campus.

“I feel a little sad, actually,” she said, “I’m only getting half of my last year. … It feels like I’m visiting the campus as someone who graduated already.”

Freshman Oscar Lopez stood at the opposite end of that emotional spectrum, experiencing Pali High for the first time.

“I was never at this campus ever to begin with,” he said. “I’m really excited to actually have a football field” and “actually be in a high school for the first time.”

His excitement would soon carry into the postponed homecoming dance, finally held on campus — a small but powerful marker of normal teenage life returning.

Rebuilding in the wake of disaster

The reopening followed an extraordinary effort. After the fire destroyed or damaged about 30% of the campus, students spent four months online, a difficult echo of pandemic-era learning layered on top of wildfire trauma. Enrollment dropped as displaced families moved away, and the school relocated to a former Sears building, where concerns arose about space, safety, and the lack of greenery.

Athletics became a logistical puzzle. Teams practiced across town, and the football program nearly collapsed after 10 players lost their homes. Still, the Dolphins rallied, hosting their first “home” game at Santa Monica College.

To return sooner rather than wait for full reconstruction, the school transformed open spaces — even the baseball field — into areas for temporary buildings. About 70% of the campus structures, damaged by smoke but spared by flames, are now back in use. The full $266.6-million restoration project is expected to conclude in 2029.

Safety remained a concern for families. Soot and ash had settled across surviving buildings, prompting extensive testing of water, soil, air, HVAC systems, and surfaces. Experts praised the remediation as comprehensive, though some called for additional testing. An independent health study has since been requested to review the data.

Finding stability again

For many families, the return represented more than a change of scenery. Suzanne Hudson, a parent whose family was displaced by the fires, described the emotional parallel between home and school.

“We have a standing but toxic house that we haven’t been able to return to, so this has kind of paralleled our displacement,” Hudson said of the campus closure. “It’s incredibly meaningful after this year of displacement, for them to be back to somewhere that represents something both familiar but also new opportunities.”

District officials echoed that sentiment. Restoring a sense of normalcy, even amid construction and caution, mattered deeply.

“To be able to tell these kids, ‘it will be a normal school day,’ is just amazing,” said school board member Nick Melvoin.

‘Ready to start again’: Palisades High reopens after devastating fire

Principal Pamela Magee described reopening day as “happy stress,” acknowledging both the milestone and the work ahead.

“The journey, we’re not completed with at this moment, but this is just a pivotal moment in the path,” Magee said. “As far as getting our Dolphins home, it feels amazing to be able to welcome them back to their campus.”

As students filed into class to the sound of the Pali High Band, a Los Angeles Fire Department vehicle sat outside — a quiet reminder of what had been endured and what still lingers. But inside, backpacks hit classroom floors, lockers opened, and learning resumed where it once paused.

Seeing Palisades Charter High School reopen proves that recovery is not just about rebuilding structures, but about restoring belonging. Even unfinished and imperfect, this return gives students something irreplaceable — a shared place to heal, grow, and move forward together

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