The emergency school notification system alerted community members about school closure today at 6:21 a.m. Harvard-Westlake’s two campuses lie near hills and canyons, increasing the impact of recent heavy rains.
Students expressed mixed emotions about this decision. This unexpected shut-down was a sudden yet cautionary measure taken by school officials. Streets such as Beverly Glen and Coldwater Canyon, main roads school buses use, were closed because of the flooding.
Both middle and upper school teachers were offered the option to turn to online learning once again. Some classes, such as Advanced Algebra II, resorted to Zoom. Others, like Honors Biology, have given asynchronous work for students to complete.
Some students said they felt confused and stressed, while others were relieved.
“It feels like 2020 again, kind of nostalgic and kind of stressful,” Lauren Kim ’26 said .
Nola Foran ’26 said she wanted to get back on track with her workload.
“A huge relief because I have so much homework to catch up on,” Foran said.
Ever since the new year began, California has been receiving nearly constant rain. During the past three years, California has experienced the driest season, leading to a drought, reported the LA Times. The area did need rain, but the amount that is being received is causing dangers of all sorts. People in the Montecito region, as reported by the New York Times, have been told to evacuate their homes because of the possible, but unknown high-risk situations that may arise.
People in the San Francisco Bay area, Santa Barabara, Montecito and most parts of Southern California are experiencing heavy floods and landslides, hindering many people trying to commute to work and students on their way to schools. In addition to the rain, extreme winds have been uprooting trees all over. Trees, as well as hills in California are not accustomed to this weather, causing many unforeseen accidents and blockages in roads.
Until this series of storms is over, Californians will have to deal with major disruptions in their daily lives.
