MIDLAND Vol. XCIII
Midland School
MIRROR
Los Olivos, California
April 2025
No. 3
Tea Time
Campus Evacuated Due to Flood Warning
By Jay ‘26 In early February, faculty and the school administration eyed weather forecasts nervously as the school launched into MIDterms. As rain predictions rose, Head of School Hannah Nelson made the tough call on day two of MIDterm. The students found out on Monday. Art faculty Faith Nygren remarked that “there was some excitement–and also some disappointment.” While students were definitely sad to not finish their experiential learning programming, many were also looking forward to seeing their families a few days early after a lovable –if slightly laborious–-and long term of hard work.
The new debris dam. Photo by Jacob Grant
After a day of packing, students were sent home Wednesday–the same day that the county put out an evacuation order for our area and the rains started. Proper planning paid off, and the diaspora of students driving off with their families all made it home safely, right before the heavy rains and mudslides. “I was A muddy Alamo Pintado fine, and I was happy to go home early,” commented Taylor ‘27. Oh, and you might be wondering: how bad were those torrential floods? Well, in anticipation of the debris flows, a debris dam was installed upstream of the Hairpin Turn, about two miles from the school, in order to protect the Figueroa Mountain Road bridge and the bridge that accesses campus from crumbling. The large, gunmetal gray construction successfully stopped thousands of pounds of debris from flowing downstream into the bridge. Students returned after a twelve-day break to 1 campus completely high, dry, and intact. But better safe than sorry!