User:FastLizard4/AUD/Sierra Madre School

Sierra Madre School (SMS) was founded in Sierra Madre, California as an elementary school in 1882, originaly as a single room school house, but now as a large mission revival-style school, which was built in 1930. In 2004, the school opened to secondary school students.

History
The school was founded by Nathaniel Carter, who also founded the city, in 1882. It was a Victorian design one room schoolhouse, complete with a bell tower, built where Kersting Court, the main commercial district, is now. With the arrival of the "Red Line" street car in 1905, the old school house was demolished and replaced with a train depot. In the northern part of the town, at the corner of Highland and Auburn, a Craftsman style school, complete with wooden pergola, was built. It became such an important part of the city, that when the new mission revival-style school was to be built in 1930, the citizens demanded that part of the old school be preserved. The only remaining part of the old school is the wooded pergola, and a bell tower was built for the original bell used in 1882. However, an earthquake caused damage to the bell tower, making it structurally unfit to carry a load. The Sierra Madre Historical Society then preserved the old bell, placing it on a new wooded frame. The bell can now be seen in Kersting Court, where the old school house used to be. In 1960, the school was renovated to withstand future earthquakes at a cost of $600,000. The school also recently underwent renovation which was completed early 2006.