Donald M. Cleland A History of the Santa Monica Schools 1876-1951, Santa Monica Unified School District, February 1952 (Copied for the Santa Monica Library, July 22, 1963). 140 pp., 1951, 1902, 1901, 1900s, 1890s
Elizabeth Hamlin, the newly elected principal [1901], found the [South Side] school with an enrollment of seventy-six and a staff of only two teachers, including herself. Convinced that the children were not getting all they should from their classes because of the lack of an adequate teaching staff, she approached Professor C.I.D. Moore, who had just been elected supervising principal, and confided to him her concern. He explained that his hands were tied; however, the ever-increasing enrollment soon compelled the board to hire a third teacher. [40. Ibid., pp. 23-24]
Miss Hamlin recalls an interesting happening during her teaching career in the Santa Monica schools. [41. Personal Interview with Elizabeth Hamlin, April 9, 1951; Santa Monica, California.] There seemed, she states, to be a closer association with the school in those days than is currently apparent. Life revolved around the schools. School activities provided the only entertainment available.
"We celebrated all the holidays in the schools and always had a big tree at Christmas time. I remember an amusing incident connected with one of those Christmas celebrations at the school.
"Thinking to make Christmas celebrations more real to the children, I told them the story of the Savior's birth. The next day, an irate parent visited me and administered a first-class scolding. He accused me of teaching religion to my classes, a practice which, he pointed out, had been stopped by law!"
At a public meeting, held April 18, 1902, the townspeople enthusiastically proclaimed their approval of the plan to build a new school. They wanted, they asserted, a school worthy of the town and of the children who would attend it. Nothing less than a building with eight classrooms would suffice to take care of the town's anticipated growth. They believed that $12,000 would prove ample to cover the cost of such a building, and they urged that the money be raised by calling for another bond issue. [42. Pearl, op. cit., p. 25.]
An election held May 12, 1902, provided the funds for the new building with only four dissenting votes out of the 205 votes cast. The community of Ocean Park felt jubilant over the prospects of having one of the finest schools in California. The school census figures reveal that in 1902 there were 1084 children of school age in Santa Monica, which represented an increase of 161 over the previous year. Sixty-five percent of the increase had occurred in Ocean Park. [43. Pearl, loc. cit.]
When the school was completed, the cost had come nearer to $15,000 but included two additional lots. Trustee Vawter offered the lots at the unbelievably low price of $610.00. The original, smaller school building was purchased by the Ocean Park Catholic Church and was removed to the corner of Third Street and Marine Avenue, where it became a caretaker's cottage. The larger one-room building remained for several years and was used as a community center building. The board finally sold the building to another church and it was moved to a new site on Seventeenth Street. [44. Ibid., pp. 25-26.]
The community and the children took great pride in the new building that was ready for occupancy in November, 1902. Its imposing beauty was enhanced by its commanding position up on the hill. Since the board of trustees had failed to provide a single object of art to beautify the interior of the building, the school set about to earn money for that purpose. They gave entertainments for paid admissions and sold candy and other items to swell the fund. A long desired piano and set of encyclopedia were also acquired in this way. [45. Personal interview with Elizabeth Hamlin, April 9, 1951; Santa Monica, California.]