My scrapbook from Friday’s ribbon-cutting for St. Mark’s Village, the temporary home of the Saint Mark’s School elementary school, which lost most of its Altadena buildings, but none of its spirit, in the Eaton Fire.
Jennifer Foley Tolbert, head of school these 13 years, and her spouse, Steven, lost their home. Yet by Thursday morning that awful week, just 48 hours after the fire, students were back in class thanks to remote technology. the hospitality of neighbors, and Jenn’s relentless determination.
The Church of Our Saviour in San Gabriel welcomed the St. Mark’s preschool. EF Academy in Pasadena, an independent high school that stresses diversity and immersion learning, offered St. Mark’s space free of charge at the north end of its property that it had been calling its field of dreams, little realizing who, once they built it, would come. Comprising 12 temporary buildings, St Mark’s Village was designed, permitted, and built in record time.
After St. Mark’s’ students set the tone with a stirring “Lean On Me,” Friday’s ceremony featured remarks by a trio of legislators who rallied to help, Rep. Judy Chu, Board of Supervisors chair Kathryn Barger, and Pasadena city council member Rick Cole. Los Angeles Urban League president and CEO Cynthia Mitchell Heard was a special guest. The St. Mark’s Church parish rector, the Rev. Carri Grindon, and I looked on proudly. In his eloquent remarks, Cole called our attention to the contrast between the chaos in Washington and the value of partnership for the common good that had St. Mark’s students and teachers back in their snug home away from home on a sun-drenched morning just three months after their darkest day.
