San Fernando Middle School is a
school rich in tradition, serving a
unique and distinctive community. It
is the oldest school in the San
Fernando Valley and the second
oldest school in the entire city of
Los Angeles. The school community
possesses those warm and friendly
characteristics of a small town
while being near the heart of an
urban area. Many of our students are
children of families who have
resided in this community for many
generations, and even some of our
staff members are former alumni. Our
second and third generation families
have carried with them a rich
cultural and ethnic heritage which
has allowed the school to develop in
its own special way. This heritage
and the varying socio-economic
factors of the community have played
a large role in the perpetuation of
past traditions as well as helping
form new ones.
Class of 1906 |
1931 Aerial Shot of our
Campus |
Our
school dates back to 1896, when
three tiny school districts combined
to form San Fernando Union High
School District. School was first
held on the second floor of the
Morningside brick grammar school
building. School was opened with a
faculty of one and a student
enrollment of 14! In 1906 the
present site was purchased and
construction began. The original
campus contained only three
buildings: the present-day
Auditorium and Science buildings, as
well as a Home Economics building
that was demolished in 1956. The
campus also served as a junior
college between 1913 and 1915, but
reverted to a high school in 1915,
becoming a six-year high school in
1919 to relieve overcrowding in the
neighboring elementary schools.
In 1920 the campus was expanded to five buildings,
adding the "M" and old Gymnasium
(demolished in 1959) and housing 325
students and a 27-member faculty. In
the early 1940's several buildings
on campus were remodeled, and new
buildings were added in the 50's:
the "H" building, the Agriculture
building, the Girls' Gymnasium and
the "C" building.
San Fernando Junior
High School was born in February
1952, when the senior
high school moved to its new campus,
leaving the junior high school on
this campus. San Fernando Junior
High School was the only junior high
school serving the northeast San
Fernando valley at that time. At one
time San Fernando Junior High School
was the largest secondary school in
the state with an enrollment of
3367.
In 1971 the Sylmar earthquake
ravaged our campus. As a result, the
administration and cafeteria
buildings were condemned. After four
years of temporary bungalows, our
school had brand-new administration
and cafeteria buildings in 1975.
Unfortunately, mother nature was not
quite done, and the 1994 Northridge
earthquake once again resulted in
heavy damage to our campus. This
time, the "A" and Science buildings
were damaged. Both buildings have
undergone extensive renovations and
have once again re-opened for
instruction.
Our Historic Auditorium |
Old Morningside Building,
pre-1900 |
A national reform movement
began to take place in the 1980's: Middle School
Reform. Propelled by the research
document "Caught in the Middle", LAUSD began to re-think the
structure of the traditional grade
configuration of its elementary,
junior and high schools. In the
early 90's, the District began to
reconfigure its schools. By 1994,
all former junior high schools were
called middle schools, and by 1996,
all middle schools housed 6th, 7th
and 8th grade students instead of
7th, 8th and 9th.
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