LOS ANGELES — Students returned Tuesday morning to a temporary campus at the site of Marquez Elementary, about nine months after it burned to the ground in the devastating Palisades fire — prompting celebration and some concerns as the school and the surrounding community struggle to recover.

For the Los Angeles Unified School District, the quick return marked a signature accomplishment.

"Today is a representation of a promise made that became a promise kept," L.A. Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said before a gathering at the school of officials and media.

"We feel great," said Nicolas Collings, who was walking up to the campus with his children, Charlie, a 4th-grader, and Chloe, who is in transitional kindergarten. The family had been displaced from their home for three months because of smoke damage. "It's good for the community."

"I'm happy to be back," agreed Charlie.

Teachers set up a raucous greeting line outside a simple metal gate, carrying white and blue pom-poms and wearing matching headbands. They draped blue and white pearly necklaces on each student within reach and smothered the willing with hugs — even though they'd seen them the previous school day at Nora Sterry Elementary in Sawtelle, which had been the relocation site after the fire.

But one sign of the community's upheaval is reflected in the school's enrollment numbers.

Before the fire, Marquez had about 310 students. The current enrollment is 130, a drop of 58%. Before the fire, about 85% of students lived in the school's attendance zone in Pacific Palisades. Now about 75% of the original enrollment is dispersed elsewhere, per the district's estimate.

A fast turnaround

The school district is offering bus transportation to Marquez from two other campuses — Brentwood Science Magnet in Brentwood and Sterry Elementary.

What made the temporary campus possible is the size of the Marquez property — about 7.75 acres. Portable bungalows now sit on the lower yard, leaving the upper yard as a construction zone for the permanent buildings, which are to be completed within three years. And, in the meantime, there's still room for landscaped play areas, which envelop two fire survivors: a play structure and the school's garden.

The cost of the temporary campus — about $19 million — makes up about 9% of the $202.6 million reconstruction project.

Officials said a survey shortly after the fire indicated that parents favored a quick return — although some parents question how well the district listened to their evolving concerns once the construction momentum was unleashed.

There are still some safety worries. Officials have posted results of soil and air tests and pledge continued monitoring as debris removal and construction continues in the neighborhood.

"We can reassure the community that it's a safe environment for them to return to," Deputy Superintendent Pedro Salcido said in a Monday media briefing.

The Palisades fire put three campuses out of commission in the nation's second-largest school system. Marquez will be the first operating out of its original site even though it was the only one that burned to the ground.

Palisades Elementary was 70% destroyed and sits on a much smaller property — making it unsuitable for a temporary campus. The school continues to operate on the Brentwood Science Magnet campus. Enrollment has dropped from 410 before the fire to 307, down 25%.

About 70% of Palisades High School survived, but administrators opted for temporary quarters at the former Sears building in Santa Monica. At the time of the move, enrollment had dropped about 500 students, nearly 20%.

The three projects are budgeted to cost as much as $600 million. The money will be fronted as required from the district's recent $9-billion construction bond. Officials hope to obtain substantial reimbursement from federal disaster relief funds and insurance.

Concerns and conflict

Many parents and school staff see the return to campus as a needed early step toward rebuilding the community.

"I lost my classroom and my house," said third-year teacher Grace Winter, who attended Marquez as a child — and had to pause to regain her composure. "But the teachers and staff at Marquez didn't lose the drive that we all needed to be there for our kids. I'm so so grateful we all got to be together. I'm really excited that we're here. The classrooms and the campus look amazing."

The look is simple — rows of new bungalows painted in serene blues, greens and tans — like a beach — some enhanced with images of flying seagulls. Classrooms are equipped for technology but also can be removed quickly when the time comes.

Some parents wanted to delay a return until there was more of a community to return to. The school is surrounded by empty lots. Many — but not all — are scraped free of fire debris from destroyed homes and businesses. The mini-market where 5th-graders used to walk down the street on Fridays to get snacks after school is gone.

The terror of the early January fire remains vivid among school families.

"One of the worst things is remembering when I went to pick my daughter up from the lower yard, enveloped by smoke and flames," said Andrea Samulon, who lost her home in the fire. "The terror in the kids' eyes, them yanking my shirt, begging me to take them with me."

With the return to the campus, "I've been forced to make a really terrible decision," she said. "Do I want to create more upheaval in my daughter's life? The few friends are there — and the teachers I have confidence in for 5th grade."

While confronting the fallout from the fire, the school community dealt with another, internal disruption — a dispute over a series of musical American history plays, written and composed by school staff, that represent a 30-year tradition at the school.

These plays — three in the 5th grade and one in the 4th grade — were a collaboration of long-retired educators who created them specifically for Marquez. Supporters say they make the campus unique and help students learn and retain history content that is part of California learning standards.

This fall, school district administrators suspended production of the shows, threatening to cancel them.

District officials declined to explain to The Times what was wrong with the plays.

In interviews and emails with The Times, parents said administrators called some of the wording in the scripts and depictions of characters culturally insensitive. The teachers involved in the plays — and the parents — say they are committed to addressing any potential issues.

The three plays that the 5th-graders perform over the school year are "Miracle in Philadelphia" — about the 1787 Constitutional Convention, "Hello Louisiana" — about the Lewis and Clark expedition, and "Water and Power" — about the industrial revolution and the fight for workers' rights in the cotton mills of Lowell, Mass.

"We believe cancellation would adversely impact our children at a time when they have already lost their school and been displaced from their homes and community," according to a petition signed by 45 5th-grade parents — in some families both parents signed the petition. "The larger impact will be to harm [Marquez's] ability to instill trust in the community and ultimately recover from the devastating Palisades fire. This is a pivotal inflection point for a school attempting to rebuild and flourish."

The first play is already about seven weeks behind schedule, but on Monday, the school sent out a message.

"Following a careful and thoughtful review of "Miracle in Philadelphia," our Instructional Leadership Team recommended moving forward with a few minor edits," the message stated. "We are excited to bring this original musical about the Constitutional Convention of 1787 back to our community."

The status of the other plays remains uncertain.

"I know that leadership at the school and curriculum leaders from central office are reviewing," Supt. Carvalho said. "I hope that there is a positive outcome to that."

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.