Third Street Elementary turns 100!
THIRD STREET SCHOOL originally was a grand two-story brick building reminiscent of an Ivy League campus.
Block party, time capsule are planned by students, parents, faculty and alumni
Hancock Park’s Third Street Elementary School celebrates its centennial this year, and volunteer parents and staff have been hard at work planning events and digging through archives to mark this milestone in meaningful ways.
Block party
A centennial block party, free and open to the public, will take place on Sun., Nov. 3, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., west of the school on Las Palmas Avenue between Second and Third streets.
It will feature educational activities sponsored by the Natural History Museum, a reptile encounter hosted by STAR Eco, Got Game games, face painting, arts and crafts, carnival games, pet adoptions and food trucks. Entertainment will be provided by Bob Baker Marionettes, Mista Cookie Jar and Third Street students and parents. The Hancock Park Homeowners Association is partnering with State Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur’s office to have a bicycle safety booth at the event. Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky of City Council District 5 will be on hand to say a few words and to present Principal Lee with a special certificate from the city.
CENTENNIAL art by Gary Baseman.
Time capsule
Planners are also working with students to choose artifacts for a centennial time capsule, for which the school plans a Fri., Jan 17 on-campus unveiling, attended by students, staff, parents, alumni, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board members and press,. Also expected to attend is Panther, the school mascot.
The time capsule will showcase a mix of historical references to the kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school with cultural favorites from 2024. Four categories of items will fill the large cylinder: student favorites (for instance, students voted gymnastics as the favorite Olympic sport of 2024), cultural references (including iPhones, clothing trends and sports teams), historical references (including images of the school and of Los Angeles throughout the ages), and student reflections and letters and examples of student life at the school.
When the capsule is opened in 50 years, members of that Third Street School community will get a multi-faceted glimpse of student experiences at the school during the era.
History
Opened in 1924, Third Street Elementary was originally a grand two-story brick building reminiscent of something one might find on a college campus, or at John Burroughs Junior High — now Middle — School several blocks to the south. Third Street’s original building served well until 1961, when the School Board decided to demolish it after building new one-story concrete tilt-up classrooms in the original playground area. Third Street’s new buildings in the early 1960s featured trees and a central landscaped courtyard adjacent to the classrooms. Today, the 4.58-acre school has multiple outdoor spaces throughout its campus, and many classrooms have a view of gardens and grassy areas.
SECOND grade classmates pose for a class photo in 1941.
JOHN WELBORNE, publisher of the Larchmont Chronicle and third from left in the top row, joined fellow sixth graders for this class photo. Fellow student Bill Spurgin is third from right in the third row, and teacher Mr. Taylor is at the far right.
But the building wasn’t the only thing that changed during the years. Looking through old photos, one sees a clear shift in attire, for one thing. As was common in decades past, girls in photos into the ’60s wore dresses, and everyone looked ready for an interview. Currently, a highly eclectic array of student attire is evident at the school every day. Photos also show a clear evolution in demographics as the years go by.
THE SCHOOL ORCHESTRA gets photographed in 1964.
When Dr. Susan Oh took over as principal in 1993, she reshaped many aspects of the school. Oh put a focus on beautification efforts and expanded the library and its programs. She also instituted a Korean dual-language immersion program.
Upon Oh’s retirement in 2016, Daniel Kim took the helm, and under his leadership, a gifted magnet program for grades three through five was added. Also at that time, the school started piloting a social emotion program, conceived by Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, called Making Caring Common (MCC).
Helen Lee has served as principal since 2022. She has helped grow MCC and prepare for this year’s centennial.
Alumni
Some notable alumni include Kym Karath, an actress known for playing the role of Gretl in the beloved classic film “The Sound of Music.” Nat King Cole’s daughter, singer Natalie Cole, attended in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Retired professional boxer Laila Ali (daughter of Muhammad Ali) attended the school, as did artist Gary Baseman, who is creating special limited edition artwork in honor of the centennial. Alumnus and Academy Award winner (for co-directing “The Last Repair Shop”) Kris Bowers recently donated a piano for the school’s auditorium and has expressed interest in attending the time capsule event. And our own John Welborne, publisher of the Larchmont Chronicle, attended the school from 1956 to 1959.
Welborne’s sixth grade classmate Bill Spurgin, now a resident in Santa Monica, but who grew up on June Street and married Daisy Brookes from Hudson Place, recently responded to seeing the accompanying 1959 photo with the following story.
DEMOGRAPHICS evolved, as shown in this class photo from 1994.
“This was Mr. Taylor’s class. I was elected Student Body President but was forced to resign after Lee Barneson, Bobby McLain, Kent Stevens, Jeff Variel, Robert Nicholas, Tommy Ralphs and I dirt clogged Donna Frame’s house and then hid there because she, Nancy Peck, Marsha McKnight, Linda Ralphs, Penny Parkin, and a few others had perfumed our fort on a vacant lot on Hudson. Mr. Gist [school principal] required all of us to report to him after school, and we were released in 15-minute increments once all the girls reported safely from home. Mr. Taylor was great in handling it.”
Some current teachers also once walked the halls as students. Kindergarten teacher Amy Genut of Beverly Grove has taught at Third Street for 20 years. She graduated from the school in 1989. “Every time I drove past Third Street School, I hoped I would be able to work there. I know how lucky the students are here,” she said.
Melrose Neighborhood resident Constance Hutchinson, a special education teacher whose mother was a school staff member for more than 30 years, said, “I have the best memories of my formative years at Third Street. It has always fostered a sense of safety and community. I loved being at [the school] — my second home — so much that years later I became a proud Panther teacher.”
CURRENT Principal Helen Lee (in rear) with students at the front entrance of Third Street school.
Funds and improvements
In honor of this big milestone, both the Windsor Square – Hancock Park Historical Society and the Hancock Park Homeowners Association are donating funds that will help the school with classroom technology, add books to the library and help with campus beautification. Third Street also hopes to raise money to fund auditorium improvements.
These funds are separate from the $77 million the LAUSD board recently approved for classroom conversion and modernizations at Third Street. LAUSD improvements are not expected to get underway until 2028, and it is estimated that they will be completed in 2030.
Upon hearing about the modernization project, Cindy Chvatal-Keane, president of the Hancock Park Homeowners Association, met with Rachel Sherman, community engagement representative for School Board member Nick Melvoin, to learn more. Chvatal-Keane said that the meeting went well and that she is assured that the community will be kept in the loop.
“Third Street Elementary has been a really good neighbor,” she said. She has lived in the neighborhood for decades and believes the modernization is a good thing. “As we get closer [to construction), we will become more involved [and will work to] minimize the impact on residents. But it’s a good thing for those kids and, I believe, for our neighborhood,” she said.
To find out more, visit thirdstreetschool.com.
Category: News