Here’s why Los Angeles public schools are closed today
All public schools in Los Angeles and Glendale are closed on Thursday to observe Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
The somber day marks the anniversary of the 1915 deportation of several notable Armenian scholars and community leaders from the Ottoman capital of Constantinople. In the eight years that followed, approximately 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed by the Ottoman Empire in a campaign of religious persecution.
The Los Angeles area is home to the largest Armenian population in the United States and one of the largest in the world.
Glendale has closed schools for Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day since 2013, and the Los Angeles Unified School District followed starting in 2020. They are believed to be the only public school districts in the nation to observe the anniversary.
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People join in the Resist Genocide Denial Now protest on the 107th anniversary of the mass murder of Armenians, outside the Turkish consulate on April 24, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) -
Armenian Americans and supporters gather for a march to commemorate Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in Hollywood on April 24, 2021. (KTLA) -
Thousands of members of the Armenian community march towards the Turkish Consulate on April 24, 2017, in Los Angeles, marking the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide. (Credit: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images) -
Armenian service members lay flowers at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial on the Genocide Remembrance Day in Yerevan, on April 24, 2025 (Photo by KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty Images) -
1915, World War I, The massacre of the Armenian populations in Turkey, an encampment of Armenian refugees on the deck of a French cruiser that rescued them. (Photo by Photo12/UIG/Getty Images)
Community events, including religious ceremonies, rallies, and tributes, are planned throughout the Southland, including the placement of flowers at the Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument in Montebello and rallies in Glendale.