It’s hard enough to imagine your school burning down, I mean that would be totally devastating. Now imagine that your entire school district burned down. This is exactly the nightmare for 32,000 kids who were displaced from their educational homes when a raging fire known as the Camp Fire burned down not just their actual homes and their schools but the entire town of Paradise in California. On the morning of November 8, 2018, the kids of Paradise went to school to flee those schools later and watch helplessly as their schools (most of them) were destroyed by fire.
Since the fires, kids have been living in shelters or with family and friends and have not been in school. Butte County Office of Education has been working to find placement for the kids of paradise. The immediate plan of action to get kids back in the classroom involves some very innovative and practical short term solutions. Elementary school kids will have the option of returning to classrooms with their classmates and teachers in the cities of Chico, Durham, and Oroville, who are hosting the kids and teachers in their schools. Middle School and High School students are redirected to a hybrid learning model, which includes mostly online instruction with meetings. Charter schools such as Achieve Charter and Core Butte in Paradise will operate out of churches and other buildings in Chico.
We certainly wish these students the best during these times of uncertainty. These plans to re-establish educational opportunities are a great starting point to help the students of Paradise return to a sense of normalcy.