Due to the recent wildfires, widespread evacuations led to the displacement of most Pacific Palisades residents, including many Pali High students and staff.
During a Jan. 21 board meeting, Executive Director and Principal Pamela Magee estimated that 300 students have left Pali since the disaster, relocating to other schools as learning remains remote for Pali students. At a Feb. 20 board meeting, Pali administration announced the temporary relocation to the former Santa Monica Sears building, currently an office space.
Sophomore Bailey Gair was among those displaced due to the fires, forcing her and her family to relocate multiple times before settling at a friend’s house in Hermosa Beach.
“We have been going around from teammates’ houses to my dad’s friends’ houses,” Gair said. “It has been a long and tiring process looking for a more permanent solution because we can’t go back to our home.”
Gair added how learning from a new location has been challenging.
“I feel isolated from my friends and school [community],” she said. “It has been tough trying to find my place for learning away from my parents in such a small space.”
While senior Panchada Virochpoka’s home remained unharmed from the fires, she was visiting her family in Thailand during winter break and could not schedule a return flight due to airport closures.
“My flight changed from Jan. 11th to Feb. 16th,” Virochpoka said. “All I want to do is see my friends and community.”
The challenges Virochpoka experienced when starting Zoom school in an entirely different time zone led her to switch to Pali’s Virtual Academy program.
“I had to take my Zoom classes at three in the morning, which was really bad for my health,” she said.
Now back home, Virochpoka feels thankful to be in a familiar environment with childhood friends and family. However, she continues to worry about her future.
“I’ve had a lot of problems with my schedule,” Virochpoka said. “[for example] issues with my PE credits, and what if I can’t graduate at Pali [on campus]?”
Former Pali High junior Lucy Neilson explained how losing her home and community led to her decision to transfer to Mira Costa High School.
“My entire street is gone,” Neilson said. “I started reaching out to schools all over looking for somewhere to go because it was the most pressing matter for me.”
Neilson explained how devastating Pali’s closure was for her.
“I was hoping to finish my junior year and follow through with all the Pali traditions,” Neilson said. “Everything I want out of my ideal senior year is Pali. Pali volleyball, Pali graduation all of that.”
Transitioning to a new community understandably has been challenging, she said.
“Mira Costa is a pretty good public school, with many similarities to Pali, like its big size,” she said. “But they don’t have a lot of the same classes that I was taking at Pali.” Neilson elaborated on demographic differences she noted at Mira Costa High.
“90% of [Costa] students are Manhattan Residents, so it’s a lot less diverse than Pali was, which is unfortunate,” Neilson said, adding that she hopes to return to Pali for her senior year.
“I will 100% come back to Pali if it reopens,” Neilson said. “Pali was my identity, and I hope to live through the traditions next year.”
