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., 1910
Santa Monica High School
In 1910, twelve years after the revelation by the Weekly Signal, [48. Supra, p. 110] it had become an established fact that the high school had outgrown the "borrowed" Lincoln School building, and that a new building must be provided. The Board desired to find a site that was large enough to meet the existing needs of the high school and to allow for future development. A good many people thought that it would be expedient to consolidate the two sections of the town by building a polytechnic high school where it would serve both areas. Thus, at a public meeting in the City Hall, called October 27, 1910, school functionaries of both Ocean Park and Santa Monica gathered to discuss the feasibility of such a plan. [49. Board Minutes, Oct. 27, 1910.]
In the early days, a good deal of bitterness had developed between the community that lay south of the arroyo and that which comprised the north section of Santa Monica. The southern portion of the city began to impute the city leaders from the north with unprogressiveness. As early as 1900, Ocean Park had had its own water system, post office, amusement pier, race track, and golf course. The fact that Ocean Park had developed its own business section and had its own school, churches, and civic organizations made the southsiders somewhat independent. Ocean Park, moreover, had become popular with summer visitors, a fact which some of the more conservative Santa Monica residents were inclined to minimize by referring to its amusement pier as "cheap and gaudy," and averred that it attracted "undesirable elements." The phenomenal growth of Ocean Park, they said, belonged in the "mushroom" category. [50. Pearl op. cit., p. 89.]
It is not surprising, then, that the strong feelings of each side of town precluded an immediate solution to the problem of locating the high school. But the meeting of October 27 was not entirely without results, for an advisory committee to represent the city, in cooperation with the Board of Education, was appointed. This committee consisted of Roy Jones, chairman; George D. Snyder, secretary; Carl F. Schader, Robert White, and Horace M. Rebok. It later was expanded and became known as the "Committee of Fifty," [51. Ibid., p. 90.]
On December 12, 1910, a resolution was adopted by the Board of Education declaring its intention to call an election for a $200,000 bond issue. [52. Board Minutes, Dec. 12, 1910.] On the same date, another resolution was adopted declaring the board's intention to establish the high school on Prospect Hill located between Fourth and Sixth Streets and between Michigan and Fremont Avenues. [53. Loc. cit.] Prospect Hill, a spot rich in local history, had been selected for the high school site partly because of its location midway between the two sections interested in it, and partly because of its topographic features. At its crest, the hill stands 120 feet above sea level, and offers a view of the entire city. A visitor once said of the spot:
"I have seen the best of public sites, both in Europe and America, and some of them on one side are equal to your Prospect Hill; but never have I seen a public building site as good as this on every side, with sea, hills, mountains and valleys so spread out in a continuous panorama." [54. Pearl, op. cit., p. 90.]
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Adult Education
As early as July, 1889, adult education had begun in the Santa Monica Schools. As the Board Minutes record:
"The application of L.B. Lawson was granted to conduct a writing class in the school building [Sixth Street School] the room to be designated by Mr. Rowell [principal], provided the district be at no expense and the house to be left in as good condition as when he takes it." [52. Board Minutes, July 6, 1889,]
Again, in the spring of 1900, a Mrs. Cook was granted the use of Room 6 in the Sixth Street School to conduct a "kindergarten and Mother's Study Group. Rent for same to be free." [53. Board Minutes, Mar. 6, 1900.] These early classes were voluntary efforts on the part of individuals interested in forming classes for their own improvement. But despite the implications inherent in this fact, it was not until 1910 that the Board of Education took official action to establish a regular evening school program. The following entry in the Board Minutes revealed
"Moved . . . , and seconded . . . , that it is the sense of the Board of Education that an Evening Elementary School be established as soon as it is definitely ascertained that conditions warrant the establishment of such school, and Superintendent is hereby authorized to make a preliminary enrollment of such persons as may desire to attend an evening school and present to the Board of Education, at his convenience a report embodying such preliminary enrollment and other information as may be serviceable [sic] to the Board of Education in determining the matter, also to communicate with the School Boards of several cities of Southern California as to the success of evening schools where the same has been established." [54. Ibid., Aug. 8, 1910.]
The Superintendent returned his report early in September and the board immediately authorized the establishment of four classes. These were held for adults who wished to study the elementary subjects and complete their grammar school education.