Collection of Materials Relating to Public Education on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, bulk 1937-1996 Inclusive

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Summary

Creators:
Van Note, Jeanne, Palos Verdes School District (1925-1961), Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (1961- ), and Palos Verdes Library District
Abstract:
Collection of materials relating to public education on the Peninsula from its beginnings in 1925 through the early 1980s. The bulk of the collection documents the period 1955-1965 and covers the unification of the school district on the Peninsula and several school bond elections.
Extent:
3 Cubic Feet 6 letter document boxes, 2 legal document boxes, 8 oversize items in flat file
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Name of item], Collection of Materials Relating to Public Education on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. (Collection 015). Local History Center, Peninsula Center Library, Palos Verdes Library District, Rolling Hills Estates, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection includes correspondence, reports, clippings, research materials, drafts and results of a parent survey in 1957. Much of the correspondence, survey materials and research notes are written by Jeanne Van Note.

Public schools noted within the collection include: Dapplegray Intermediate, La Cresta, Ladera Linda, Lunada Bay, Malaga Cove, Malaga Cove Intermediate, Mira Catalina, Margate Intermediate, Mar Vista High (on the campus of Palos Verdes High), Miraleste High, Miraleste Elementary, Montemalaga, Palos Verdes High, Pedregal Elementary, Peninsula High, Point Vicente, Portuguese Bend, Rancho Vista Elementary, Ridgecrest Intermediate, Rolling Hills High, Rolling Hills Primary, Silver Spur Elementary, Soleado Elementary, Valmonte, and Vista Grande Elementary.

Biographical / historical:

The Palos Verdes School District (PVSD) formed on January 26, 1925 as an elementary school district officially when unincorporated Palos Verdes withdrew from the Los Angeles City Elementary School District. The District began by serving 26 students from kindergarten through 8th grade in its first facility set up in two rooms above a drug store in Malaga Cove Plaza. High school students were sent out of the District to attend Los Angeles City schools in Redondo Beach. The first official school on the Peninsula, Malaga Cove School, opened in 1926 followed by Miraleste School in 1929. The school district continued to grow and, between 1955 and 1965, enrollment went from 2,285 to 13,204 students.

Attempts to form a unified school district on the Peninsula, which would provide an educational program for all K-12 students to attend school on the Peninsula failed to pass in 1953, 1954, and 1957. Finally, in October of 1960, voters elected to form a unified school district. On July 1, 1961, PVSD officially unified and became the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD). In September 1961 Palos Verdes High School, the first public high school on the Peninsula, opened with an enrollment of 2,043 students.

By 1973 enrollment in the District reached a high of 17,836 students resulting in serious overcrowding. Various measures were used to address the issue including redrawing attendance boundaries. The District also studied the viability of a year-round schedule with double sessions, extended-day sessions, reduction of high school graduation requirements and the purchase of portable classrooms.

PVPUSD changed greatly in the 1970s largely due to changes in the way the District was funded. Prior to 1972, most District income came from local property taxes which were based on assessed property value. In 1974 however, student enrollment became the most important factor in determining District income. While the District had a high enrollment in 1973, the next year enrollment started to drop thus reducing the District's funding.

Due to budget shortfalls, the District cut student programs and started to lay off its teachers in 1975. Local efforts to increase revenue limits per student were defeated. Through 1979, the District made further reductions in its staffing, closed facilities and cut student programs including sports. In 1992, Miraleste High School and Palos Verdes High School were closed and all high school students on the Peninsula were funneled to the former Rolling Hills High School campus, re-named Peninsula High School.

As of October 2016, the PVPUSD serves the four cities on the Peninsula as well its unincorporated areas with enrollment of approximately 11,500 students. The District includes: two early childhood centers, ten elementary schools, three intermediate schools, two high schools and one continuation school. PVPUSD has repeatedly been recognized as a top performing school district in California.

Jeanne Van Note was appointed to the PVSD Board of Trustees in 1956. She was elected as President of the Board in 1958 and was President at the time of the school district unification election in 1960. Van Note retired from the school board in 1961.

Acquisition information:
Assembled from various donations and materials collected by the Library.
Processing information:

Initial rehousing and stabilization of materials by Stella Castillo. Final arrangement and description by Stella Castillo, October 21, 2016. The arrangement scheme for the collection was imposed during processing.

Arrangement:

Arranged into ten series alphabetically and thereunder chronologically. Series 10 is further arranged into subseries alphabetically and thereunder chronologically.

Series 1: Correspondence 1955-1983; Bulk 1955-1960

Series 2: Reports and printed materials by Palos Verdes School District (PVSD)/Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD)

Series 3: Committees and associations

Series 4: Unification

Series 5: School Bond/Tax Elections

Series 6: Survey, 1957

Series 7: Reports on the Palos Verdes School District (PVSD)/Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District (PVPUSD)

Series 8: School Board/Board of Trustees

Series 9: Research materials and clippings

Series 10: School Materials

  1. Dapplegray Intermediate School, 1961-1967
  2. Lunada Bay Elementary School, 1959
  3. Malaga Cove School, 1937-1965
  4. Malaga Cove Intermediate School, 1966-1990
  5. Miraleste Elementary School, 1960-1982
  6. Miraleste High School, 1969; 1971
  7. Palos Verdes High School, 1961; 1972; 1976
  8. Pointe Vicente Elementary School, 1991
  9. Ridgecrest Intermediate School, 1983
  10. Rolling Hills High School, 1968
  11. Silver Spur Elementary School, 1984
  12. Unidentified School Materials
Physical location:
Local History Center
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the Local History Center for access information.

Terms of access:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred citation:

[Name of item], Collection of Materials Relating to Public Education on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. (Collection 015). Local History Center, Peninsula Center Library, Palos Verdes Library District, Rolling Hills Estates, CA.

Location of this collection:
701 Silver Spur Road
Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274, US
Contact:
(310) 377-9584
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