Students displaced by Eaton Fire return to classroom as more schools open doors​on February 11, 2025 at 4:46 am

ALTADENA, Calif. (KABC) — A month after the Eaton Fire broke out, students of all ages impacted by the disaster – and now the recovery – are returning to the classroom.

However, it’s not necessarily the classrooms they’re used to seeing.

Sammy Finn, who attended Saint Mark’s school in Altadena, described it as “a normal school with a little bit different setup.” A large portion of her school was destroyed in the Eaton Fire.

“I think the thing I would miss most about my old campus is all the memories I had there,” the little girl said. “I’ve been there since 1st grade, so I basically had half of my life all up on that campus.”

Those Saint Mark’s school students are now finding space at EF Academy in Pasadena.

The 16-acre campus, which is just two miles away from Saint Mark’s, is setting aside space for approximately 18 months to ensure “uninterrupted learning” during the rebuilding process.

The support is being offered at no cost.

Barnhart School in Arcadia is also opening its doors to impacted students, including Pasadena’s High Point Academy.

“We have about a dozen families who did lose homes, including two employees, several more families who are still out of their homes,” said High Point Academy’s Head of School Joey Campanella. “All of those circumstances make it very difficult to even have your normal life.”

Tim Spurrier, the head of school at Barnhart, said they were lucky their building didn’t suffer any fire damage.

“We just decided right away to open our doors to whoever wants to come in,” he said.

Meanwhile, students from Altadena’s Village Playgarden preschool will start next month. While the campus is not the same, there is something very important that remains.

“I love the positive attitude, and I’m new to Los Angeles, but this has been amazing to me to see everybody joined together and become part of the community,” said Spurrier.