Brief History

Palms Elementary School opened as a one-room schoolhouse in 1836 at the corner of Overland Avenue and Woodbine Street. It was a frame structure and enrolled thirty-five pupils from farms and ranches from the surrounding area, then called La Ballona Valley. In 1888, the one-room school was sold and a new two-story frame school building was erected at the present site. The building was condemned in 1913 and a two-story concrete building was built on the same site in 1914.

In 1915, the World's Fair Committee awarded Palms School a prize of $500.00 for having made the greatest improvement in the beautification of its grounds in the State of California. At this time, the school served as the Town Hall and it was the focal point for social activities for both the community and local churches.

The south building, which contains most of our classrooms at the present time, was built in 1927 in order to accommodate an expanding school population.

During the 1933 earthquake, the second story of the original building, which housed grades seven and eight, was damaged and subsequently removed. The remaining portions of the building, as well as the south building, were reinforced in order to make them more structurally sound. The auditorium was built in 1937.

Today, children in kindergarten enjoy activities in the shade of the old pepper tree planted in 1918 by David Worsfold, a former student. After nearly a century of unique history, Palms remains a living symbol of the growth of an ever-changing community.

Currently, Palms Elementary School enrolls students from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 5. Over four hundred students from a wide variety of racial, cultural, and religious backgrounds are instructed by highly qualified teachers.

We, the learning community of Palms Elementary School, will work cooperatively to develop and support a challenging curriculum for life-long learning in a safe and enriching environment.