Area’s schools affected by fire

La Cañada Unified School District schools canceled their first day of classes Aug. 31 due to the Station fire. Classes resumed for all district schools on Wednesday; however, all outdoor activities have been suspended, according to a statement on the district’s website.

Private schools in La Cañada also closed their doors this week as a result of the smoke and subsequent unhealthy air conditions from the Station fire, which has been burning since last Wednesday.

Reports from the South Coast Air Quality Management District put the air quality in La Cañada at unhealthy.

St. Bede School remained closed through Tuesday, according to the school’s website. The school was expected to reopen Wednesday and would be “curtailing outside activity,” according to the school’s website; however, faculty and staff continue to “review this dynamic situation based on the most current information from the authorities,” read the site. Kindergarten orientation for parents on Tuesday went on as scheduled. Classes at St. Bede School began Aug. 26.

St. Bede School Principal Ralph Valente said the school was monitoring what the La Cañada Unified School District is doing to determine when to resume classes.

“Air quality is the concern, plus we have many families who are evacuating,” said Valente. “I have one family who we tried to a get a hold of to tell them about school being canceled, and they told us they weren’t in the area because their son has asthma. He can’t breathe the smoke.”

The school is pretty much self-contained, said Valente, meaning students would be safe from the outside air, but they still need to get from their homes to school, he added. A back-to-school picnic scheduled for today has also been canceled, Valente said.

At St. Francis High School, classes were canceled on Monday and remained canceled through Tuesday. Varsity, junior varsity and frosh football practices were also canceled as well as morning soccer practice. The school reopened Wednesday. Classes began Aug. 19.

“We are in contact with the local schools,” said St. Francis High School Principal Tom Moran. “Obviously we want to do what is best for the community. We do not enter into this situation lightly.”

Moran added that the school’s website has been used as a resource to let parents, students, staff and faculty about any closures in effect. Additionally, Moran said, the website will also be used to get in touch with families that may have been displaced by the fire, families that the school has not ben able to get in touch with. “I don’t think we are an island here,” said Moran. “I think some [St. Francis] families were displaced.”

Updates will be posted should the school need to cancel classes for another day. The school has spoken with the principals at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, La Cañada High School and St. Bede School, said Moran, as well as officials with the city of La Cañada Flintridge.

“We also continue to monitor the air quality so we can resume our classes and sports as soon as possible,” read a statement on the school’s website from St. Francis High School President Rev. Tony Marti. “We all want to get back to a normal schedule and continue helping you with the education of your sons. It has been a very difficult situation for everyone.”

At Flintridge Preparatory Academy, classes do not begin until Sept. 15; however, some athletic practices have had to be canceled, said Flintridge Preparatory Academy Headmaster Peter Bachmann, including football, cross-country, volleyball and water polo practices. Most players were moved to a different location to practice to avoid the smoke, said Bachmann.

“We’ve had to cancel any physical activity on the campus,” Bachmann said.

The fire has had no effect to the school in terms of planing for the new school year; however, some families have been displaced by fire, including two employees — one from La Crescenta and another from Tujunga.

“Most of them are back in their homes,” said Bachmann. “None have suffered direct damage.”

The school is also in the process of reestablishing communications with those families who have been evacuated, said Bachmann.

“We haven’t been able to track all of the families who were evacuated over the last six days,” said Bachmann. “We have been able to track some of them, but not all of them. We just call them or e-mail them and offer them support to let them know we are here so we can help.”

Bachmann adds that his school is enormously grateful to the fire and police officials who have done a “fabulous job under the most horrendous conditions.”

Officials at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in the hills opposite the Station fire announced Tuesday afternoon that the school would be closed through Wednesday afternoon. Volleyball practice will still be held on schedule. Practice for golf and tennis was canceled. School began Aug. 24.

Flintridge Sacred Heart Principal Sister Celeste Botello did not know when she would resume classes at her school.

“If I knew that, I would be a magician,” said Sister Botello, laughing. “Today, when I went out to my car, there was a lot of ash on it, more so than the day before. I am looking on how much ash there is on the ground, how heavy the air is. It’s really a day to day decision.”

She added that she and her administrative staff met to discuss the situation this week. The school is also looking at reports from AQMD and other online sources. The school’s voice mail system is also alerting families as to the school’s current operating status and will let famlies know by Wednesday if and when classes will resume.

Several FSHA families have been displaced because of the fire, said Sister Botello, including two of her teachers who were evacuated.

“In fact, it’s happening in groups,” said Sister Botello. “In the very beginning, groups of families had to leave from the La Crescenta area. It’s in different pockets, depending on where fire is.”

The most important thing at this point, Sister Botello says, is the safety of her school’s students.

“And so what we all need to do is to pray,” said Sister Botello.

At Crestview Preparatory School, classes do not start until Sept. 7; however, like some of the other private schools in the area, some staff have been displaced, making it extremely difficult for staff to prepare for the upcoming school year

“It’s difficult to prepare if they are moving out of their home,” said Head of School Marie Kidd.

Some new families from out of state are coming in to the area ahead of the new school year, Kidd says, and the fires have made for an “eerie experience.”

“Even though they are not in the way of the fires, it is an unusual experience,” said Kidd. “Safety, in terms of the fire danger, is finished for us here.”

The important thing at this point, she says, is to watch for the health of the children, Kidd said.

At Renaissance Academy, “There is no closure whatsoever,” said Executive Director Sandra Staffer, whose school begins classes on Sept. 8. “So we will just wait and see. I can’t really say anything of what is going to occur until we get closer to that opening.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, things were looking pretty “dismal,” she said, and one of her staff members was evacuated from her home last night. Overall, she says, the fire has had little impact on her school in terms of planning for the new school year.

Classes at La Cañada Preparatory School do not start until Sept. 10.

Students are currently attending Camp Camelot, and most of the camp’s activities are held indoors, said La Cañada Preparatory School Director Terry Villanueva, although their football camp was canceled, she said.

“We’ve found that a lot parents are going back to work or are [evacuating] their homes,” said Villanueva. La Cañada Prep also houses The Learning Castle, which is a school for 4 year olds through third graders.

Officials at the school are listening to fire reports and are optimistic that firefighters will get the blaze under control by the time classes begin next week, said Villanueva.

“Our hearts go out to the families that have been impacted,” she said. “We just want it to get better for everybody.”