Some Pasadena charter schools are reopening as students grapple with the Eaton Fire Fallout

A few moments after the Bell rang on Thursday, the bodies of Willena’s written schools of Pasadena – returned to the classroom for the first time because the Eaton fire went to this place – fully participated in what 5-year-olds do: play.

Four children were having a dinner party, complete with food and plastic dolls. “Ice cream and tomatoes – yucky!” Another girl told her classmate. “If you eat, you’ll get doo-doo.”

The Pasadena Unified School District created this small, light-hearted moment, a departure from the weeks over the tragedy and the massive cleanup effort to prepare campuses to reopen.

In all, the district’s 10 schools and programs welcomed back more than 3,400 students Thursday as part of the first phase of reopening. They included Hamilton Elementary School, Blair Middle School and Rose City High School, among others.

“It feels really good to see a beautiful school building open,” said Pasadena Unified Board of Education Dean Jennifer Hall Lee. “Rebuilding and rebirth is important. For all people in Pusd and beyond.”

The district, which closed its 24 campuses on Jan. 8 – The day before the fire – you can only return the children after an examination to ensure that they are safe under the State emergency standards. A good clean-up – 1,500 donations – has been going on for the past two weeks, and so far more than 100 tons have been removed.

“If someone had told me that I would build a school district in 14 days, I would have told them it was impossible,” said Svpt. Elizabeth Blanco. “But … We have the right group of people … who love this region.”

Five county-owned sites were severely damaged or destroyed in the raid, including the ELIOT art gallery. Three charter schools housed on school campuses were among those lost.

The second phase of the school reopening brought 5,400 more students back into the classroom; The third phase will add another 5,000. The district aims to return all students to in-person learning by the end of January.

As the children enter the water before this article at 7: 50 in the morning with classes, the parents circle two rows of palm trees. One father, Arthur Sierra, said he was honest about sending his five-year-old daughter, Alina, to kindergarten, but he was reassured to know that the district had implemented an extensive cleanup program. Then Alina said, she has asthma.

“We were worried, because of what’s happening – the media is describing the worst possible possibilities based on what we breathe,” Sierra said. “[District personnel] they are doing all their due diligence, but there is still that possibility. “

Still, Sierra said her daughter was happy to be back at school — and relieved, too. “It’s difficult for parents to provide that same level of encouragement that they come to school for eight hours,” she said.

As Sierra spoke, a group of workers in Neon Yellow vests cleared the nearby brush.

“We’re just hoping for the best,” he said. “You know, every day.”