More than 220 students returned to St. Matthew's Parish School in Pacific Palisades on Wednesday, Sept. 9, walking back onto a campus gutted by the January 2025 Palisades Fire.

The independent Episcopal day school, which serves children ages 2 through eighth grade at 1031 Bienveneda Ave., reopened for full-time, in-person instruction after nearly 20 months away. The fire destroyed the Lower School campus, library, administration building, portions of the Early Childhood campus and rectories, according to Councilwoman Traci Park's office.

Park, who represents Council District 11, was scheduled to join students, families and faculty for a reopening ceremony Wednesday morning.

"Schools are anchors of a community, and when kids come back, families come back," Park said in a statement, according to Spectrum News. "There is still a tremendous amount of work ahead of us, but this is what recovery looks like."

Getting students back on campus required a scramble through city permitting. Park's office began working with school leadership and The McGregor Company in July to install temporary classrooms. The councilwoman's team coordinated with the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to move the project through the city's permitting process, according to Park's office. The school received its main permit on July 28, followed by electrical and other required permits.

Head of School Alley Michaelson and the firm Michael Maltzan Architecture are planning a permanent rebuild of the Bienveneda campus, according to the school's website. No timeline for that project has been announced.

St. Matthew's is not alone in its return. Palisades Charter High School resumed classes on its Bowdoin Street campus in late January after roughly a year at a converted former Sears building in Santa Monica, the Palisades Post reported. Paul Revere Middle School, Marquez Elementary School and Calvary Schools have also welcomed students back.

Recovery across the fire zone remains uneven. A June 2026 Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation report found that three public schools damaged or destroyed in the Palisades are not expected to reopen until the end of 2028. The same report estimated annual household spending losses from delayed reoccupation in the area at $79 million.

The reopening ceremony was scheduled from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. Wednesday. The permanent rebuild has no public completion date.