Palisades Charter High School reopens a year after LA wildfires ravaged campus

Welcome back, Dolphins.

Students returned to Palisades Charter High School Tuesday for the first time since the Pacific Palisades fire ravaged the campus last January.

“After a year of resilience and adaptability, our school community will finally be back on our beloved Palisades campus!” Pali High principal Dr. Pam Magee wrote in a celebratory Instagram post.

“While there will no doubt be bittersweet feelings about what once was, what now is, and what is to come, we will continue to navigate the transition together as a united community.”

Some 2,500 students spent much of the last school year having classes in a renovated former Sears department store in nearby Santa Monica which was dubbed “Pali South” while the badly damaged main campus remained closed.

Much work remains to be done to restore the school to its original form after the fire destroyed approximately 40% of the campus, but the homecoming marks a long-awaited return to normalcy for students.

Upon returning, pupils filed into 36 bungalows erected on the school’s baseball field which will be serving as classrooms — a temporary solution until the completion of a new permanent concrete building set to open in 2028.

The school’s athletic facilities — including the football and baseball stadium, the gym, the swimming pool and its running track — are still being worked on — Magee said gym classes will be held on a large grass area on campus adjacent to its tennis courts.

“The past year challenged us in ways we never imagined, but together we have persevered,” Magee said, thanking school families, staffers, students and volunteers whose hard work — and financial support — made the comeback story possible.

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“This week we celebrate not only the reopening of our campus but the spirit that carried us through … we are thrilled to welcome everyone back to the heart of our Palisades community!”

Parents and students took to the streets outside the campus ahead of the grand re-opening, waving signs reading “resilience looks good on you!” “welcome back!” and “we love our Dolphins,” a reference to the school’s beloved mascot.