“This is the symptom of a much bigger issue and a much bigger story.”

The Kids Aren’t All Right

At Harvard-Westlake, a prestigious Los Angeles prep school that costs more than the average college, three student suicides in six months have parents worried, students grieving, and administrators scrambling

By J. Clara Chan

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHOP CHOPPISH SHOP

This past spring, Harvard-Westlake, a prestigious prep school in Los Angeles, was thrust into crisis mode. Between March and June, three students died by suicide, setting off alarm bells within the school’s community.

The first death happened on March 2, when a 15-year-old sophomore girl took her own life. A member of Harvard-Westlake’s field-hockey team and an avid photographer, the student was honored at a school memorial later that month. The Chronicle, Harvard-Westlake’s student newspaper, dedicated the front page of its March issue to her, and a eulogy given by the student’s photography teacher was published in full.