It was early in the morning in the 90s when Academic Support Specialist Gabriela Herrera walked down the hallway of her San Fernando Valley home and peeked into her mother’s room to find it empty. Only...

On a Thursday night, Ezra* is sitting on the couch at home with his friend, hoping to relax after a long school day. Ezra is captivated by the colorful graphics on his computer. As the slots spin and chips...

Sitting alone at a table on the Quad, Kamari McNeely ’24 sat at a table at school and prepared to open her decision letter to her dream school, Tufts University. Bracing herself for the worst, she read...

Keisari Penman ’27 steps out of the car, smoke stinging her eyes. After evacuating the night before, she is on her street  to assess the damage done to her home. Her garage is ablaze, and a pile of...

It was a Friday evening after school when Walter*, an eighth grader at the time, sat in his living room watching thedrama show “ER” with his mother. During the episode, a scene was shown in which a...

1,000 candles threw shadows across the walls of the funeral home. The soft glow of a projector displayed a slideshow of my grandfather’s life in photos. Family members exchanged memories of him. As my...

A few days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Upper School Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Coordinator Rebecca Limerick grew concerned as they checked their phone. Posts and articles...

It is eerily quiet in the Pacific Palisades. Soft rays of light filter through cracked walls and rubble as the ashes of Palisades Elementary Charter School blow away in the wind. Meanwhile, five miles...

It is the summer of 1998. The hot valley sun beat down on Serena Gupta Gandhi’s ’99 face as she sipped her drink, dancing and talking with her friends at a birthday party, while she tried to enjoy...

Although it is only 11 a.m., Rhea Khanna ’26 is on her way home from school. She feels a stabbing pain in her stomach as she sits hunched in the passenger seat. She worries about the math test and history...

When Upper School Counselor Emily Joyner thinks about Black History Month, she pictures her great-grandmother as a 14-year-old girl, standing on the docks of the Caribbean island of St. Thomas. Alone after...

In her pitch-black bedroom at 5 a.m., Sunny Lu ’25 sits crisscross in front of her laptop. Her eyes are glued to the screen as the Harvard University mens water polo team’s game begins. Squinting to...