Palisades High students embrace new post-fire Santa Monica campus, a repurposed Sears store

Jaylah Hartsfield, a senior at Palisades Charter High School, was feeling mixed emotions on Tuesday. On one hand, she was finally back on a campus — albeit a temporary one — with her classmates and teachers, something she said many of them have been ready for quite a while now.

No doubt about it, the opening on Tuesday was a milestone moment in the recovery from the catastrophic Palisades fire.

But though returning to in-person school was a joyful moment, Hartsfield was sad knowing...