On Wednesday January 8th, the Los Angeles wildfires started to cause many school closures, including Animo Jefferson Charter Middle School, because of bad air quality.
The morning of the closures the sky was orange: it looked like a sunset. This was caused by the fires in the Pacific Palisades and the Eaton fires. The fire that most likely caused the ash to get all the way to Animo Jefferson was the Eaton fire. There was ash everywhere; for example, on the ground, walls, cars, windows, roofs, and more.
During second period Principal Mr. Flota had sent an email to all of the teachers about lunch procedures and students getting picked up from school due to the poor air quality. Students had to stay inside during lunch and had to stay in their second period class until they were picked up. The parents had to pick up the students from the gym and security or teachers would go to the classroom to notify the student that their parents were here.
In the gym there was a long line of parents waiting to pick up their kids. As parents got to the front of the line they had to give their student’s name and show staff their ID for proof that they were the child’s guardian. One of the student’s parents had trouble picking up their child because he didn’t have his ID with him, so the staff had decided to start asking him personal questions about the student. A few minutes later the man was able to pick up his child.
According to Assistant Principal Ms. Perez, there was a sixth grade female student who was last to leave the school. The student left around 2:45 p.m.
