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Photograph courtesy of the California History Center
The original schoolhouse, circa 1899
History Lessons
Sunnyvale schools look to their past for direction in the future
By Kelly Wilkinson
Sunnyvale School District's beginning was humble one, as most beginnings are. In 1899, Sunnyvale residents cast a 53 to 0 vote to begin construction of Sunnyvale's first school, located where Sunnyvale Town Center Mall stands today. And this Sunday, 100 years after that original school opened with 50 desks, rudimentary outdoor plumbing and a horse shed, the school district will celebrate what was born from that small wooden schoolhouse in the center of town: a century's worth of educating its youth.
Humble Beginnings
The schoolhouse grew steadily in the early part of the century, and administrators consistently added rooms and teachers and classes until they it became clear that the add-ons weren't enough. The district needed to build a modern school. Sunnyvale Grammar School was erected in 1914, down the road from the old schoolhouse. Builders used the bottom floor of the original building as a cafeteria. The new school opened on Jan. 4, 1915. Its teachers had to live in the city and abided by the motto: "Love our school, love our city."
Nancy Newkirk, a Sunnyvale School District board member who has been exhaustively compiling the history of the Sunnyvale schools, says that in the first 10 years or so of the original school, students did not receive grades, since they had to come and go from the classrooms as the harvest demanded.
"If it was harvest time, [the boys] were out in the fields," she says. "That was just the understanding."
In 1923, enrollment was up to 600 children, and additional wings, classrooms and a community auditorium were tacked onto the second structure to accommodate the load. At that time, the school now known as McKinley and called "the cement building on Frances Street" had 16 teachers, a principal and a vice-principal, two orchestras, a tennis team and a horticulture department that worked in conjunction with local orchards.
The growth of the school can be attributed to the efforts of local business owners urging people to come to the area. According to Chiyo Winters, curator of the Sunnyvale Historical Museum, the first Chamber of Commerce President Walter Crossman published a pamphlet around the turn of the century encouraging newcomers to settle in Sunnyvale and promoted the area as the "City of Destiny."
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, school attendance grew as Sunnyvale's Hendy Ironworks increased its production and operations for the war effort. Between 1944 and 1946, McKinley added eight classrooms.
In 1950, the district built Bishop School on Sunnyvale and Maude Avenues. Newkirk says it was revolutionary for its time--it had fireplaces in the classroom, a sun porch for the nurse and showers for the students who were coming in from the fields.
During Sunnyvale School District's first 10 years, students did not receive grades--their work schedule in the fields was too unpredictable to ensure they would stay in the classroom.
A Population Boom
But the population really burst--it nearly doubled--after Lockheed arrived in 1955. That's when "it really started to go up and keep going," says Newkirk.
Rudy Sunderland, a science teacher who joined the district at Madrone Junior High School in 1959, says the computerized era of schools today makes him feels ancient.
"They were just starting to come in when I was about to leave," he says, referring to his retirement in the early '80s. "We were only just trying how to use them ourselves."
"When I started teaching, it was the time of Sputnik, so we were all really emphasizing science," he says.
That population explosion continued through the '60s with the growth of the defense industry, and new Sunnyvale schools were being opened at the rate of almost one a year. By the mid-'60s, the district had 15 elementary schools, and three intermediate schools, with almost 11,000 students enrolled.
But at the start of the 1970s, the district found itself with too many schools for too few children as rising housing costs prevented younger families from moving into the area.
In 1979, the Board of Education had closed a total of six schools: one intermediate and five elementary schools. And in 1982, the district consolidated the remaining two intermediate schools into one. At present, there are eight elementary schools and two middle schools in the district.
Learning From the Past
Newkirk says that again the school district is working toward integrating social services in the schools: an attitude reminiscent of the district's beginnings, when Bishop school had fireplaces and a nurse's porch. Columbia Neighborhood Service Center, which provides health and family services through a partnership with Advanced Micro Devices, is an example of this.
"It's kind of the same, but kids aren't coming off the fields," she says.
Superintendent Joe Rudnicki concurs, citing both the AMD partnership and Hewlett-Packard, which has "allowed our students to participate in one of the richest science teaching and learning environments in California."
"The importance of the 100-year celebration is to express joy with the success of our school district since its formation," he says, noting the district's reading and math scores are above the national average at every grade level and that it offers extensive after-school activities and tutoring programs.
"Sunnyvale student education has come a great distance over a distinctive path of success since 1899," Rudnicki says. "The future bodes well for us, we have a history of excellence as a center of experience, and the indicators to even greater successes in the future."
Builders used the bottom floor of Sunnyvale's original schoolhouse to form a cafeteria in the new Sunnyvale School, which opened in 1915. The new school's teachers were required to live in the city and abide by the motto 'Love our school, love our city.'
Centennial Celebrations--Schedule of Events
May 14, 6 p.m., "From Chalk to Chips" educational fundraiser at Tarragon Restaurant, 140 S. Murphy Avenue. Tickets are a $50 donation. For more information, call 408/736-6241.
May 16, Main Celebration Open House 1-4 p.m., Bishop Elementary School on Sunnyvale and Maude Avenues. "A Walk Through Time" will be held at the district's oldest operating school and will showcase educational memorabilia throughout the century. Senior and distinguished alumni will be acknowledged, and a time capsule will be buried on the property. Entertainment and refreshments will be provided.
Sunnyvale's Notable Names
Sunnyvale School District has produced many well-known alumni--some are famous across the county, others have earned their reputations locally. Their career roles range from politicians to actresses, from flower shop owners to moviemakers. No matter their notoriety, they all got their start right here, in Sunnyvale schools.
Ida Trubscheck, known as Miss Sunnyvale. Graduated from Sunnyvale Grammar School circa 1908 and was elected the city's first clerk.
Edwina Benner, Sunnyvale's first female mayor in 1937. Graduated from Sunnyvale Grammar School in 1920.
Emile Courbline, former Sunnyvale mayor. Became a teacher and coach at Fremont High School. Graduated from Sunnyvale Grammar School in 1922.
Ron Gonzales, San Jose mayor. Attended San Miguel and Madrone. Elected to the Sunnyvale City Council in 1976 and served as mayor before becoming a Santa Clara County commissioner.
Manuel Valerio, Sunnyvale mayor. Attended Bishop and Madrone in the 1970s. Served as a legislative aide to Sen. Elaine Alquist and was elected to the Sunnyvale City Council in 1995.
Jim Roberts, former Sunnyvale mayor. Attended Adair and Benner. Elected twice to the Sunnyvale City Council and served as mayor in 1997.
Paul Fong, board of trustees for Foothill--DeAnza College. Attended Benner in the 1960s. Owner of a Sunnyvale florist shop and professor of political science at EvergreenWest Valley College.
Tony Bui, film director/writer. Attended Sunnyvale Junior High. Wrote and directed Three Seasons.
Terri Hatcher, actress. Attended Mango Intermediate School and was a cheerleader. Starred as Lois in the now defunct television series Lois and Clark.
Khrystyn Haji, actress. Attended Cumberland Elementary. Starred in television sitcom Head of the Class.
Time Capsule Mystery
As part of the centennial celebration, a time capsule will be buried at Bishop Elementary School containing mementos of Sunnyvale education. But this isn't the first time a capsule has been buried at a Sunnyvale school.
In 1957, students in Bill Germans' homeroom at now-defunct Madrone Junior High School created and buried a time capsule in an old dairy can. Unfortunately, Germans died in 1981 without revealing the can's location, and students contacted in the search couldn't remember where they had buried it. Records in the school office regarding the capsule have long since disappeared. When the school closed in 1982, school officials employed metal detectors and divining rods to hunt for the elusive can--to no avail. Its whereabouts remain a mystery to this day.
School board member Nancy Newkirk hopes that along with providing answers to a few other Sunnyvale School District mysteries--such as the oldest living alumni--this Sunday's events might help to unearth the 1957 Madrone time capsule.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
