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A year ago, Tanya Reyes watched in disbelief as the Eaton fire incinerated her Altadena home. As her three daughters listed everything they had lost in the days that followed, Reyes kept reminding them that what mattered most was that they still had each other. 

A year later, Reyes is struggling. The steadiness she once summoned for her children has been worn down by chronic back pain, brought on by the strain of moving every few months, and the emotional toll of rebuilding her family鈥檚 life while working her teaching job, supporting pregnant and parenting teens. 

Reyes is a teacher at McAlister High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and is among thousands of Los Angeles-area residents who watched their way of life destroyed as fires tore through neighborhoods and schools. Today, life is about finding equilibrium in a new normal, with many still putting the pieces of their old lives back together.

鈥淚鈥檓 very much a go-getter and a doer,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd my body is saying, 鈥楴o, you can鈥檛.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

The 2025 fires cut a wide swath of destruction that the region is still grappling with. Thirty-one people died. Over 100,000 people were displaced.

School communities were hit particularly hard. More than 16,000 structures were destroyed, including eight school campuses in the Pasadena Unified School District and Los Angeles Unified. 

Evacuations put both districts on hold, temporarily halting instruction for roughly .

In the year since the fires, both districts have been on the road to recovery, making progress on plans to rebuild and renew their communities. They have also provided support to students during the year of upheaval.

鈥淥ver the past year, the school communities devastated by the January 2025 wildfires have demonstrated extraordinary resilience and strength,鈥� Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools Debra Duardo told EdSource. 鈥淲hile the Eaton and Palisades fires tragically claimed lives, destroyed homes, and disrupted the sense of security and daily routine that students depend on, we have come together to rebuild, support each other and heal.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Reconstruction

Throughout the region, school sites are reminders of the fires鈥� destructive path. Tons of fire debris have been removed, and rebuilding efforts have started taking shape. In many respects, the two school districts have rebounded, but in different ways.

Los Angeles Unified has made headway in rebuilding Marquez Charter Elementary, Palisades Charter Elementary and Palisades Charter High School. 

Rebuilding the schools in LAUSD is estimated to cost up to $600 million. But the school district is able to count on rebuilding funds from a 2024  passed by voters. 

At Marquez Charter Elementary, enrollment is down to 130 students from 310 before the fires 鈥� some are attending other schools in the area or have left the region entirely. But in late September, those who remained were able to  to their original campus in portable classrooms. Their permanent campus is expected to be built by 2028, for $207 million.

Just over a mile away, nearly 3,000 Palisades Charter High School students will  to campus this month in portable classrooms after spending the past year attending classes in a renovated . Their new campus is expected to cost $267 million to rebuild and is slated to open by the end of 2029.

It鈥檚 a different story 35 miles away in the school communities of Pasadena Unified, where long-standing financial challenges compound fire recovery. District officials also look to a $900 million bond measure passed in 2024 to help restore its five campuses lost to the fire. But money is still tight. The district has struggled financially for years and has been  to avoid a county takeover. 

As the district recovers from the fire, its financial struggles have made recovery difficult. In November, the district  $24.5 million from next year鈥檚 budget as part of a larger $30.5 million reduction. Roughly $17.2 million of those cuts were in staffing, from teachers to gardeners and librarians 鈥� some of whom had been directly impacted by the fires. About 40 teachers were ultimately laid off. 

Compounded losses 

While both districts were able to relocate campuses 鈥� and keep students together in the same classes with the same teacher 鈥� within weeks of the fires, some students 鈥� particularly foster and homeless youth 鈥� struggled. 

In the Altadena area, about 225 children and youth in foster care were living in the region impacted by the Eaton fire, the majority of them school age. Some live in congregate care settings, such as group homes, while others stay with relatives.

Within three months of the fire, 36 students had relocated outside the area, moving an average of 16 miles away, according to an , a research center focusing on youth in the child welfare system.

As recovery continues, Taylor Dudley, the center鈥檚 executive director, noted that while some school-based services, such as support for students with disabilities, were initially delayed as schools took account of the losses, they were eventually provided more consistently as schools stabilized. But, she is concerned that students may begin to see other services 鈥渄rop off鈥� with time.

For example, if a student鈥檚 home is now safe to return to, the child might be reenrolled at the school they attended before the fire. Dudley noted that a transition of this nature raises many questions for a foster student, who may not have a constant advocate by their side: Who will ensure all their credits will transfer from their previous school? Will their transportation plan be upheld? Will their individualized education plan (IEP) transfer in full, with all services continuing? 

Meanwhile, the healing process has continued for students in the area who were homeless before the fires or who lost their homes. Nearly 300 homeless students in Pasadena Unified were enrolled by the first Wednesday in October, known as Census Day, during the 2024-25 school year, according to an EdSource analysis of the state鈥檚 most recently available data. About 10,800 were enrolled in the Los Angeles Unified School District. 

The state initially made it easier for families to enroll their children in new schools by removing the typically required documentation. Jennifer Kottke, the homeless liaison for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, spent months after the fires consulting with schools, working around processes to verify residency and determine which district a student belonged to. Students experiencing homelessness have the right to immediate enrollment at any moment at any school, she said. 

Some families who were suddenly homeless after the fires 鈥渨ere having a hard time because they鈥檝e never seen themselves as being the ones in need,鈥� Kottke said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e the ones who provided for those who were in need.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

These families had previously been 鈥渢he givers,鈥� as Kottke noted. Some initially declined resources, from basic hygiene products to computers to food, because they believed other families might need them more, she said.

Meanwhile, as the year unfolded, some students in fire zones faced another crisis: immigration raids in the late spring. Both situations, one immediately after the other, targeted students鈥� sense of safety, said Lisa Fortuna, who chairs the Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the University of California, Riverside.

鈥淭here鈥檚 so much threat to self and to one鈥檚 close loved ones, the people you鈥檙e dependent on, the places and things you depend on as your home, as your resources in the community,鈥� said Fortuna. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a cumulative loss.鈥�

Adjusting to the new normal

Despite a quick surge in counseling and psychological support for students, the emotional fallout from the fires is ongoing. The occasional fire drill or nearby house fire can reignite feelings of fear and loss for students, said Gabriela Gualano, a teacher librarian at LAUSD鈥檚 Paul Revere Charter Middle School.

鈥淲e had to definitely front-load to the kids: 鈥楬ey, this is what鈥檚 happening. It鈥檚 just a drill. We know you鈥檝e done this before. The district just wants to make sure that we鈥檙e able to do this in a timely manner, so we鈥檙e going to get through it,鈥欌�� Gualano said. Some students have developed a dark humor around the fires, she said, while others avoid the topic altogether. 

How schools in the region will mark the Jan. 7 anniversary of the fires varies.

At Pasadena Unified schools, a moment of silence will usher in the anniversary. 

Some schools in the L.A. Unified area do not have elaborate plans to commemorate Jan. 7.

Some Los Angeles campuses might opt to plant a tree or take students on a walk, but only activities that heal, said Julianne Reynoso, Pasadena Unified鈥檚 assistant superintendent of Student Wellness and Support Services.

Meanwhile, Wendy Connor, a retired first grade teacher at Marquez Charter Elementary, said the school doesn鈥檛 plan to do anything on the anniversary. Maintaining a sense of normalcy is still the priority, she said. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a collaborative, iterative process,鈥� said LAUSD school board member Nick Melvoin, who represents schools in the Palisades. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e done a lot of right by our students, which is most important, but always, always more to do.鈥�

The district is making 鈥渟ure we keep our eye on the ball when it comes to the permanent rebuild,鈥� he said.  

Meanwhile, teachers say they鈥檝e had to grapple with decades of losses that can鈥檛 be replaced. Connor tries to remember what her room looked like, the place where she taught for 38 years when she and her students fled: 鈥淪omebody鈥檚 backpack is open on their desk; all the chairs are out or pushed around instead of just sitting all straight normal. It鈥檚 all wacky.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

The grieving continues for teachers, she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not things that you can turn to the district and say, 鈥榃ill you buy me this?鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淵ou (used to) have samples of every art project all put together in a binder up on the shelf 鈥� and now you don鈥檛 have any of it.鈥�

For teacher Tanya Reyes and her family, the past year鈥檚 struggles have made her reflect on how the community can best move forward after the devastation. Reyes stressed the importance of remembering 鈥渨ho the roots of Altadena were.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

She, her husband, and three children have moved three times 鈥� from one family or friend鈥檚 home to the next, and finally into a new rental home roughly 6 miles from Altadena in Sierra Madre. 

Reyes鈥� family is slowly coming to terms with what they lost this past year when their home burned, including a daughter鈥檚 stuffed tigress. Over the past year, the family鈥檚 pet bearded dragon died. But life moves on, and their new space is morphing into a semblance of home.

As the year progressed, Reyes learned that the recovery process means taking it slower.

鈥淚 feel humbled as someone who is a doer and a mover and a goer to really have to sit back and be still,鈥� Reyes said. 鈥淭here is a mourning or a grief in my body that I don鈥檛 even have awareness of, but it鈥檚 showing up.鈥�

This  was originally published by EdSource.  for their daily newsletter.

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