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., 1876
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The special edition of the Outlook of July 6, 1897, relates that "the first school was called to order on Monday morning, March 6, 1876, in the little Presbyterian Church that then stood on the corner of Third Street and Arizona Avenue."
Prior to the opening of school, a board of trustees was selected to organize the district. John Freeman, J.W. Scott,, and L.T. Fisher were chosen at the public meeting to serve as the first trustees. The early board minutes recorded the brief details of the business conducted in the months preceding the actual opening of the school. The following excerpts tell only a portion of all that undoubtedly took place in three months:
"Santa Monica, Feb. 5th, 1876
"At a meeting of the school trustees, all present.
Feb. 19th, was set for day of election and notice of same printed in the Outlook."
"Santa Monica, Feb. 19th, 1876
"The members of the board not being present the polls were not opened and no election held. A new notice was issued calling for an election March 11th."
"Santa Monica, March 6th, 1876
"H.P. McKusick was employed at a salary of (100.00) one hundred dollars per month to teach school. The Presbyterian Church having been rented for that purpose at a rent of $25.00 per month."
"Santa Monica, March 11th, 1876
"At the special election today, the tax was carried by of vote of yes and none no. Loren Heath was elected Assessor and Collector." [3. Minutes, Santa Monica School Board of Trustees, January 28, 1876-March 11, 1876.]
First School Opened March 6, 1876
The event of the opening of school, be it noted, occurred five days in advance of the voting of the special school tax, which is a mark chalked up on the courageous side of Messrs. Freeman, Scott and Fisher. Undoubtedly, the board members well knew the sentiments of the Santa Monica pioneers and their determination to organize the district and provide the necessary facilities for a school. This was witnessed by the vote of the electors. No record of the number of yes votes was indicated, but at least there were no votes in opposition.
Fifty-two pupils enrolled the first day. To give the occasion its proper setting and dignity (and, no doubt, suitably to impress upon the minds of the children their obligation to learning and authority, as in the days of the Hoosier schoolmaster), the occasion was officially witnessed by the three trustees. Such visitations soon became a custom with the trustees and were usually accompanied by oratorical fanfare directed at both teachers and "scholars." [4. Santa Monica Evening Outlook, July 8, 1950, p. 6G.]
The first school was organized with eleven classes of three grades with an enrollment of seventy-seven pupils by the end of the first month. With this number of pupils, there is little possibility that H.P. McKusick did much to provide for individual differences, but spent considerable time in "riding herd" and assigning lessons. Since McKusick's records are lost, no account is available of the names of the children attending the first Santa Monica school. However, the pioneers of Santa Monica came from states where public education was a settled policy and it was through their foresight that the foundation of public education was laid in this pioneer settlement of the west. Their children were fortunate to have the advantage of an opportunity to learn. [5. Loc. cit.]
Loren Heath, the first school tax assessor and collector of the Santa Monica School District, returned the assessment roll on April 10, 1876. The school trustees canvassed the roll for three days and made a number of changes, the chief of which, according to the record, was the little item of 25,000 acres in the return of the Santa Monica Land Company. The minutes read:
"We find that the Santa Monica Land Company have returned but about 5,000 acres of the San Vicente Rancho. We estimate the rancho at 30,000 acres which we value at ($1) one dollar per acre it being hill land." [6. Board Minutes, April 22, 1876.]
The total valuation of the school district, as corrected by the trustees, was recorded as $1,035,580. The first school tax rate was set at 60 cents on the one hundred dollars.
The town lots on Sixth Street between Oregon and Arizona Avenues, now serving as the site of the offices of the Board of Education, had been donated to the school district by Senator John P. Jones and Col. Robert S. Baker, who had developed the original town site of Santa Monica. On these lots the first school building was erected in the summer of 1876, and was ready for occupancy upon the opening of school in September of that year. [7. Santa Monica Evening Outlook, July 8, 1950, p. 6G.]
A call for bids on the schoolhouse was made on April 18, 1876 and six bidders responded. The contract was awarded to William Lloyd for $2850, and he was asked to post bond for $1000 for the "faithful completion of said contract." The building was of frame construction with two classrooms on the first floor and a large room above. The upper room was not entirely finished but was used on many occasions for entertainments, public meetings, and dances. The exterior was of simple colonial style with clapboard siding and was adorned with an impressive bell-tower. [8. Board Minutes, June 9, 1876.]
The cost of the building, however, leaped upward as it neared completion. A compromise with the builder effected a reduction in the overall costs, but the board paid William Lloyd the sum of $4150 for the building. This sum did not include all items of expense, however, for the board minutes of June 9, 1876, contain the following entry:
" . . . and also paid $12.50, Wilson's bill for stationary, O.A. Snow, $6.00 for blackboard, L.T. Fisher for privy (lumber and wood) $14.50. S.I. Rolf for school furniture $6.25 . . ." [9. Loc. cit.]
The total cost of the building plus equipment consumed nearly all of the tax money that had been voted at the special election.
The following paragraph concerning the opening of school in September, 1876, suggestive of mid-twentieth century schools, is taken from the files of the Santa Monica Evening Outlook:
"Public school will not begin next Monday as heretofore stated. The desks, which were expected on the Senator this morning, did not arrive. Besides, the carpenters have not yet completed their work on the building. The trustees feel quite confident that all arrangements will be made by the following Monday, September 11. This delay has been unavoidable, therefore, it is only proper that teachers and patrons exercise a little patience." [10. Santa Monica Outlook, Aug. 30, 1876, p. 1.]
As the school year closed in June, 1876, in the Presbyterian Church, the enrollment had risen to over one hundred pupils with an average daily attendance of nearly seventy. The board of trustees added another teacher when school opened in the new building on September 11, 1876, a Miss Alice Whitton who was employed as assistant to teach the primary grades. McKusick taught the older children and was in charge of the school even though the title of principal was not vested in him. [11. Ibid., July 8, 1950, p. 6G.]
There are few facts recorded in the board minutes relating to the new school. Only assumptions can be made as to the success of the teachers and the methods and subjects that were taught. The minutes show a succession of personnel as teachers and principals in those early days. A very stable program could scarcely have been possible with as many changes as took place those first years.
The first public school was opened in the Presbyterian Chapel on the corner of Third and Arizona streets on March 6, 1876, with H.P. McKusick as the first teacher. A school district was organized with J.W. Scott, John Freeman, and L.T. Fisher as trustees. On March 11, 1876, a special bond election was held and the electors voted $5000 to build and equip the first school. The school house, located on Sixth Street, was ready for use in September, 1876. [49. Loc. cit.]
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