Ten months after the Palisades Fire destroyed their Pacific Palisades campus, students at Westside Waldorf School will return to permanent classrooms when the school opens its new Santa Monica location on Dec. 1.
The new grades 1-8 campus at 2601 Colorado Avenue marks the first time since the January fire that students will learn together under one roof, ending months of makeshift arrangements in tents, park structures and borrowed spaces across the community.
"When we walked into this space, we knew immediately. This is where we'll heal," said Anjum Mir, school co-coordinator. "Our students have shown incredible resilience through ten months of upheaval. Now we get to give them back what every child deserves: a beautiful, stable place to learn and grow."
The school signed a multi-year lease this fall for the 26,000-square-foot campus in Santa Monica's Colorado Center district, located at Colorado Avenue and 26th Street. Crews spent recent weeks completing fast-tracked renovations to transform 8,000 square feet of former office space into functional classrooms.
The new campus features a central courtyard with olive trees that echoes the beloved space lost in Pacific Palisades, along with a dedicated middle school wing and administrative offices. The school's early childhood program for ages 0-6 remains at its O'Neill Campus on 15th Street in Santa Monica, about five minutes from the new location.
Since the January fire, students and teachers have endured constant upheaval. They learned math in park pavilions, created art in borrowed rooms and gathered for lessons under canvas tents. Teachers carried supplies in their cars while parents juggled pickup schedules across multiple locations.
"Students and teachers across Grade School and Early Childhood Center have learned and taught in shared, borrowed spaces," Mir said. "Parents have juggled multiple locations, long detours, and for many who lost homes or were displaced, the challenge of getting to school at all."
At the temporary park campus near the burn scar, rain repeatedly forced school closures due to flooding and erosion risks.
"Our mantra after the fire was 'School is not a building; it is the people, their relationships and the learning that comes alive between them,'" Mir said. "That belief carried us through ten months of uncertainty and constant movement."
But having a building represents just the beginning of recovery. The fire destroyed everything — handcrafted wooden desks and play structures built by parents, musical instruments played by generations of students, carefully chosen art supplies and bookshelves full of stories. The new classrooms now sit empty, waiting to be furnished and equipped.
The school has launched what it calls a "modern barn raising" — a community fundraising campaign to furnish classrooms, replace instruments and art supplies, and create outdoor learning spaces.
"Just like pioneers helped each other rebuild after disaster, our community is showing up to help us create something beautiful for these children," said Dave Chan, a member of the board of trustees. "We've come so far, but we need help bringing these empty classrooms back to life. Whether you're a parent, neighbor, or simply someone who believes children deserve beautiful spaces to learn, your contribution matters."
The campaign seeks donations at donorbox.org/rebuild-westside-waldorf.
School leaders say the new campus feels like a miracle, but they know it is the hard work of many and the unwavering support of the community and neighbors that made it possible. It will take many hands to rebuild and raise the school, they said, and they invite all who care deeply about supporting this effort to join the modern barn raising.
Mir said the school plans to remain in Santa Monica long-term, calling it "the perfect size for us to stabilize and expand."
"We could be here for the better part of a decade or until we outgrow it," she said. "That is the hope — every child deserves a Waldorf education."
The Dec. 1 opening will reunite the entire student body for the first time since the fire.
"Opening day at the new campus will be the first time since the Palisades Fire that all our students will be together again," Mir said. "We've carried the heart of the school with us to every temporary space. It has grown bigger and braver, and we are deeply grateful that it finally has a home."
Founded nearly 40 years ago, Westside Waldorf School serves children ages 0-14 through an educational approach emphasizing beauty, nature and hands-on experience. The school's Waldorf method was created a century ago to help children heal from the trauma of war.
"We are a small school. Schools like ours don't survive pandemics or fires," Mir said. "Yet here we are, unapologetically advocating for children and the importance of a healthy, slow, screen-free childhood."