Santa Monica High School | |
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Location | |
601 Pico Blvd Santa Monica, California 90405 United States |
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Information | |
Type | Public |
Motto | Sincerity, Maturity, Honor and Service |
Established | 1906 |
Principal | Dr. Antonio Shelton |
Enrollment | 3500 |
Color(s) | Blue & Gold |
Mascot | Victor and Vicky Viking |
Website | http://www.samohi.smmusd.org |
Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to Samohi, is located in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1884, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Boulevard. It is a part of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
The "new" campus opened in 1912 with one building, the current History building, with an enrollment of 50 students. The school sits on the hilltop between 4th and 7th streets and Pico and Olympic Blvds., from which one can see the Pacific Ocean. Ten years later the campus was expanded with construction of the English building. In 1921, the Open Air Memorial Theater (now called the Greek Amphitheatre) was built to honor the Santa Monicans who served in World War I. One of the best examples of the classical Greek style in Southern California, the amphitheater was built after Santa Monica passed a $30,000 bond measure to fund its construction. Barnum Hall Theater, originally called "the Auditorium," was built in 1937 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to be the Civic Auditorium of Santa Monica and host school events as well. The campus also added six buildings during this period: the Language, English, Business, History, Administration and Music buildings.
In 1952, Santa Monica High School was finally expanded to what it is now, 33 acres (130,000 m2), and two new buildings were built, the Science and Technology D.M. buildings. As the school aged, renovations took place in Barnum Hall and the Music building was completely rebuilt. As of February 2015, a new Science and Technology Building — known as the Innovation Building — has been constructed along with an outdoor gathering space called Centennial Plaza. On September 10, 2015 during "Back to School Night" the Innovation Building was unveiled to the public.
Santa Monica High School's campus is located about a mile southeast of downtown Santa Monica, walking distance from: the Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica City Hall, Santa Monica State Park, and the Santa Monica Public Safety Facility (home to the city's Police & Fire Departments).
In 2003, Samohi adopted a house system, similar to college house systems; each student is part of a house. There are five houses, S, M, O, H and I, with each house assigned a building or a floor of a building.S House is stationed in the Language Building, 'M' house is on the first floor of the History building, O house is on the second floor of the History building, H house is stationed in the English building, and I house is stationed in the new Innovation building. The "A" house was cut due to the California budget cuts to public schools. A principal oversees each of the houses, along with two counselors. Teachers with classrooms in a house building/floor are automatically deemed one of the house teachers with some slight exceptions. Upon enrollment in Santa Monica High School, students are randomly assigned to a house unless the student has already had a sibling in SAMOHI.