Barton Hill Elementary School, sometimes referred to as simply Barton
Hill School, opened on the north end of San Pedro in 1909.
One of the oldest public schools in San Pedro, the distinctive one-building
schoolhouse was built at 423 N. Pacific Avenue. (The original Fifth Street School, built in 1885 and no longer standing, was the first public school in San Pedro.) After a few years of operation, it became clear that expansion was needed.
Los Angeles school district architects designed the additional school
buildings, including the iconic main building that still faces out
onto Pacific Avenue today. Contractor Frank Hudson built the structure at a
cost of $65,000. The new building was placed in front of the original
schoolhouse, which was retained for many years before being demolished.
The revamped school opened with the beginning of the fall term in
An early battle over the school’s direction took place during the
summer of 1925, when a group of parents demanded the transfer of
Barton Hill’s principal, Elizabeth Gardner, expressing their
dissatisfaction with her methods. They presented a petition signed by
50 percent of the school’s parents.
School district superintendent Susan Dorsey, for whom Dorsey High
School was named, stood up for Gardner, calling her efforts at Barton
Hill “the finest piece of work in the city.” After a stormy three-hour
debate, the board voted to keep Gardner and deny the parents’
By the 1960s, Barton Hill’s student population had grown to more than
1,000 students. About half of them had Latino parents who spoke little
or no English, and in 1969, a school advisory council was formed to
help form closer links with parents. An ESL teacher also was added to
the school’s staff to help Spanish speaking students adapt.
Because of the poverty level of its families, Barton Hill was
considered an “inner-city school,” unlike the predominantly Anglo and
well-to-do demographics at Leland Street and South Shores schools in
Storm clouds began to form over the three schools in June 1978, when
the Los Angeles Unified School District formulated its plans to comply
with court-ordered busing to integrate its schools.
The plan called for students from Barton Hill, which was 88.9
minorities, to be bused to South Shores (86.5% Anglo) and Leland (
80.5% Anglo), with students from the other two schools in return being
bused to Barton Hill in an attempt to normalize the racial balance.
Parents at Leland and South Shores angrily resisted the plan, saying
it had little do with race and more to do with not having the district
dictate where their children would go to school. They vowed to keep
their children home when the new school year started in September
rather than have them bused.
And so they did. On the first day of court-ordered busing, Tuesday,
Sept. 12, 1978, only 42 of the 110 students scheduled to be bused from
Leland to Barton Hill showed up, and only 2 of the 42 students from
South Shores rode the bus.
By contrast, 93 of the 95 Barton Hill students being bused to Leland
showed up, and all 55 of the Barton Hill students assigned to go to South
Shores were on the bus.
The anti-busing group Bustop began targeting the harbor district’s
school board seat. Resistance to busing there was second only to
resistance in the San Fernando Valley for its vehemence.
Many parents took their children out of the LAUSD schools in favor of
private schools. But resistance among those who remained began to fade
by the start of the next semester in January 1979, when students from
all three schools participated more fully in the program, and tensions
Barton Hill struggled academically, with an API score of 422 recorded
in 2000, low enough for the school to face possible academic
sanctions. Principal Lupe Grajeda, who served in the role from 2000 to
2004, was credited with increasing the score to 685 by 2003. She
retired in 2004.
The school began to be spruced up. Volunteers from the San Pedro
Rotary Club repainted its auditorium in 2006, and in that same year,
new principal Lou Mardesich coordinated a volunteer effort to paint an
aquatic-themed mural on the face of the distinctive stone stairs that
led up the hill to the school.
Artwork and murals have been part of the school’s look ever since,
with the latest mural depicting a shoreline scene complete with a surfer, a lighthouse and underwater sea life.
The school has been designated as historically significant by the Los
Angeles Unified School District.
About 250 people gathered at Barton Hill Elementary School on
Thursday, June 11, 2009, to celebrate the school’s 100th anniversary.
Former principal Grajeda helped organize the event.
“We wanted a chance to bring all the old alumni back because they
still live in the neighborhood and they’re excited about their Barton
Hill. It’s just a real deep affection that we feel for Barton Hil and
we know there are many people out there in the community who feel the
Daily Breeze files.
Los Angeles Times files.