Reflection on Monrovia Schools’ Early Years

By Steve Baker, City Historian

What did theschools of Monrovia and an ancient Greek philosopher once have in common?  They both made the profound statement, “Thefoundation of every state is the education of its youth.” These words were firstuttered by the fourth century B.C. philosopher Diogenes of Sinope, whoseobservations on human nature and behavior are as on target today as they were 24centuries ago. And those words were prominently displayed above the entrance tothe 1912 Monrovia City High School main building and later at the main entranceto the 1947 Social Science Building at Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte High School.

But let’s goback a few years to the beginnings of public education in Monrovia. Monroviawas founded on May 17, 1886 by the Monrovia Land and Water Company and namedafter William N. Monroe, who settled here with his family in 1884. Monroeneeded no introduction to the power of education; he was college educated andhad taught school for two years in rural Iowa before enlisting in the UnionArmy after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. He knew that any newcommunity would be more attractive to potential residents if it offered thebenefit of public education. So committed was he to public education that hepaid for the first school out of his own pocket!

We areindebted to J. H. Strine, superintendant of schools, for this early history ofpublic education in Monrovia that appeared in his annual report for the yearending June 30, 1898: “The first public school in Monrovia was held in Barnes’Hall during the school year 1886-7, with Mrs. J. T. Tuttle as teacher. It wassupported by W. N. Monroe until the close of the term, May 2, 1887. On May 7 ofthe same year the County Superintendent appointed W. N. Monroe, E. W. Little,and J. T. Tuttle trustees, and these elected Miss Vesta A. Olmstead teacher forthe remainder of the year—May 10 to June 24, 1887. There were, during thistime, 54 pupils enrolled. July 7, 1888 the Monrovia City School District wasformed, as authorized by the Board of Supervisors. W. C. Badeau, E. P. Large,and U. Zimmerman were elected trustees. Jas. A. Foshay was made principal ofthe school, and the first term opened Sept. 17, 1888.”

Other earlyaccounts add that the school began in November of 1886 with 12 pupils and oneteacher. The location of that first public school still exists—on the secondfloor of the venerable building at the northeast corner of Lemon and Myrtle avenues.                 

As the schoolpopulation increased, it outgrew Barnes’ Hall, making a separate public schoolbuilding a necessity. The first school building was erected during the summerof 1887 at the southeast corner of Orange and Mayflower avenues, and was namedthe Orange Avenue School. (Orange Avenue is now known as Colorado Boulevard.) Thebuilding was constructed with funds provided through the premium sale of lotsin the Bicknell Addition to the Town of Monrovia as well as supplemental funds providedby William Monroe. The two story building contained three classrooms on eachfloor and a centrally placed bell tower, and was designed in the popularEastlake Style by local architect Luther R. Blair.

Since theOrange Avenue School provided instruction for eight grades only, there wasgrowing sentiment for the formation of a high school. On July 22, 1893, theelectorate of Monrovia approved the formation of the Monrovia City High SchoolDistrict. Classes began that fall in two rooms on the second floor of theOrange Avenue School. Two years later the school had its first graduating classof two students: Carroll Fowler and Ida Whittington, both of whom went on tohigher education.

The year 1903saw the construction of the Ivy Avenue School, located where Clifton MiddleSchool is today. That building was intended for an elementary school, but itended up as shared space with the high school, since the high school hadoutgrown its original home at the Orange Avenue School but could not afford itsown building. The high school rented space until 1910, when it was able to purchasethe site for $50,000 with the proceeds of a bond measure and the location becamea high school campus only. The bond measure also made possible what was toutedas a polytechnic high school building in a newspaper article published in 1910.The new building, designed by the Los Angeles firm of Allison & Allison,was completed in 1912 and served until 1929 when the high school moved to itspresent location. And it was that building that bore the quotation fromDiogenes.

Thesoutheastern quadrant of Monrovia received a school building in 1907 with thecompletion of the Charlotte Avenue School, located on what is now CanyonBoulevard. It housed eight grades in a two story brick building of artisticdesign located on a campus lined with mature pepper trees. The following year atwo-room school building was constructed on Linwood Avenue where Vons is today.That building, together with a second building designed to match the first, laterserved as the headquarters for the Monrovia City School District. And the finalschool building constructed in the early years of the 20^th century,in response to the active growth of Monrovia after 1904, was the Wild RoseAvenue School, completed in 1912.

As it nearedits 30^th year of service to education in Monrovia, the Orange AvenueSchool was showing definite signs of wear and tear. Mamie Norene Maag, who servedas principal at Orange Avenue from 1915 to 1927, recalled in a 1955 interviewhow the old building would shake as students rushed up the worn, rutted stairsand how bats from the bell tower would make their way into the classrooms,emerging from behind pictures at inopportune moments. She also recalled how ittook three attempts to pass a bond measure to replace the old building with anew one. The old building succumbed to progress in 1917 and was replaced with abuilding designed by local architect Frank O. Eager. His creation was NativeAmerican inspired, and presaged the Aztec Hotel of 1925. After 30 years ofservice the bell in the tower was retired as well. It spent a 47-year hiatus inthe school district warehouse and then was installed in a tower once again—thistime at Monrovia High School.                        

The RoaringTwenties roared in Monrovia as well as nationally. Both Duarte and Arcadiavoted to join the Monrovia City High School District, lacking the ability tosupport high school districts of their own. The elementary school population ofMonrovia roared as well, growing to such a degree that two new schools werenecessary. In the northern section of Monrovia, houses were replacing orangetrees and Mayflower School was placed in service, opening its doors in 1925.And in the southern section of Monrovia, growth was taking place as well. SantaFe School, named after the adjacent Santa Fe Railroad, opened in 1927.  Both new schools housed grades first througheighth.

Also in 1927two important events took place. On June 14, a successful bond measure in theamount of $625,000 passed, allowing the high school district to purchase a siteat Orange Avenue (now Colorado) and Sixth Avenue (now Madison) and to constructthe original six buildings on the High School campus. On Dec. 12, 1927 the highschool district was re-named the Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte High School Districtto reflect the constituent communities. The new campus was ready for occupancyin January of 1929 and was dedicated on Jan. 25 with impressive ceremonies. ThePalladian façade of the main building originally bore the names of the threeconstituent communities, each name in geographical order above one of the threearched entries to the building.

After thehigh school moved to its new campus, all seventh and eighth grade classes inMonrovia were moved to the former high school campus and it was known as theIvy Avenue School once again. At about the same time, the name of CharlotteAvenue School was changed to Huntington School.

All was wellin Monrovia, structurally speaking, until March 10, 1933 when an early eveningearthquake jolted all of Los Angeles County and beyond. Especially hard hitwere the public school buildings of Long Beach. The newspapers featureddisturbing photographs of heavily damaged schools with fallen ceilings drapedacross student desks, and there could be no doubt of the disastrousconsequences had the earthquake struck earlier in the day when the classroomswere occupied. In response to the damage and the possible death toll, an act (theField Act) made its way through the California Legislature and was signed intolaw in perhaps record time. The act provided for stringent seismic safety forall new school buildings and the evaluation of all existing structures.

In due time,the engineers reached Monrovia. Huntington School showed obvious signs ofdamage and had been vacated as a result of a successful lawsuit filed on behalfof the minority parents whose children had been attending the school. Wild Rose,Ivy Avenue, and Orange Avenue schools did not show signs of damage, but weresuspect as they were of unreinforced masonry construction. Ultimately, thoseschools as well as Charlotte Avenue School were condemned. The high school, aswell as Mayflower and Santa Fe Schools, of newer construction, were spared. 

It was a hugeblow for the Monrovia City School District and it took several years, in themidst of the Great Depression, to raise the funds to either replace entirely orto extensively renovate the condemned buildings. New schools, in the streamlinemoderne style, were completed by 1937. Orange Avenue School was renamed MonroeSchool to honor William Monroe, who had been so instrumental in establishingpublic school education in Monrovia. Ivy Avenue School was renamed CliftonSchool to honor Archie R. Clifton, former teacher and principal at MonroviaHigh School who went on to become superintendent of schools for Monrovia aswell as Los Angeles County.

The postWorld War II boom in Southern California impacted the school population ofMonrovia and the adjacent communities as well. Arcadia was able to successfullycreate its own high school district in 1951, and the local high school becameknown as Monrovia-Duarte High School. The following year, 1952, Plymouth Schoolwas placed in service to serve the student population in the southern end ofthe Monrovia City School District. By 1957, Duarte was able to support its ownhigh school district. Before the separation took place, the combined districtbuilt Duarte High School and students began attending early in 1958. In 1958Bradoaks School was placed in service to serve the student population in theeastern portion of Monrovia as orange trees gave way to houses and Wild Rosewas bursting at the seams.

The year 1960marked the end of two venerable institutions: The Monrovia City School Districtof 1888 and the Monrovia City High School District of 1893. The voters of thetwo districts voted to combine the two into the Monrovia Unified SchoolDistrict. Monrovia High School had gone full circle and was known once again byits original name.

The originalbuildings at Mayflower and Santa Fe, survivors of the Field Act, succumbed in1966 to increased concerns about seismic safety and were replaced. Four yearslater, to voluntarily deal with the de facto segregation that existed inMonrovia schools, the school district was reconfigured. Huntington School,essentially a segregated facility, was closed and the student population wasassigned to other schools. Clifton became a middle school with grades six,seven, and eight, and Santa Fe became a second middle school instead of anelementary school.

Since thattime, Canyon Oaks High School and Mountain Park School have been added asalternatives to Monrovia High School. Further changes include the designationof Santa Fe as Santa Fe Computer Magnet School and Wild Rose as Wild RoseSchool of Creative Arts.  The MonroviaCommunity Adult School has a history going back decades and the Canyon EarlyLearning Center was created more recently on the former Huntington School campus.The schools ofMonrovia began with William Monroe, and they continue with limitlesspossibilities. Who could ask for more?  

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