Marquez Elementary Students Return to Rebuilt Campus After Wildfire

A Special Homecoming

• 🏫 Marquez Elementary School students are returning to their campus today after a devastating wildfire forced them out nearly nine months ago.
• 💖 The return marks the end of a long rebuilding effort and a return to normalcy for students, staff, and the community.
• 😭 It's an emotional morning, with heartwarming scenes of students reuniting with teachers and staff.

Rebuilding and Promises Kept

• 🏗️ The rebuilding effort has taken nine months, symbolizing a promise made to the community to rebuild and build better.
• 💰 The district committed $600 million to rebuild three schools, with Marquez being a prime example of this commitment.
• 🌟 The school is described as having risen from the ashes, a testament to the resilience of the community.

A New Campus and Future

• 📍 For the past several months, students attended classes at Nora Sterry Elementary School in West Los Angeles, about 10 miles away.
• 🏗️ The current campus is part of a $200 million project, with a new campus slated to be ready by the 2028-2029 school year.
• 😊 Students are arriving with a mix of surprise, excitement, and perhaps a little nervousness, but overwhelmingly happy to be back.

Superintendent's Remarks

• ✅ Superintendent Alberto Carvalho emphasized that this is the pure definition of happiness and a promise kept.
• 🎯 The district's priorities include academic stabilization, empathy for students, and the appropriation of necessary resources for rebuilding.