Loma Portal Elementary School is celebrating its centennial in style throughout this year, with the next big event being a fundraising Centennial Gala 6 p.m. Friday, March 20 at the McMillin Event Center in Liberty Station.
“It’s the second oldest school behind Cabrillo (formerly Roseville), which opened in 1914,” said Elaine Fotinos Burrell, centennial committee chair for Loma Portal, a preschool through fourth-grade establishment.
Fotinos Burrell said there is one remaining big centennial event after the gala. “It’s our spring music festival on May 29, which will feature 100 years of music sung by children, open to the whole Point Loma community,” she said.
First-year Loma Portal principal Rebecca Penh noted the fundraising gala, being put on by the school’s foundation, will be a “fun night out for parents and community members.
“We will also have a lot of alumni who will be there for dinner and cocktails,” said Penh, adding, “There will be gift baskets and an auction.”
Penh said someone at the gala will win the opportunity to be “principal for a day” at Loma Portal.
“They will co-lead the school,” she said. “They’ll be in my office and do walk-throughs with me in classrooms. They’ll learn what it feels like to be behind the scenes. It also makes it exciting for the kids.”
Penh said it’s a great time to be the head of such a distinguished school that has so much history behind it.
“It’s been very exciting, and it’s absolutely amazing, all the activities we’ve had on campus,” she said.
One of those activities, kicking off the Centennial in October 2014, was a Living History Day. Partnering with Old Town State Historic Park, Loma Portal youngsters got to participate in a historical re-enactment.
“We had a whole day of school as it might have been in 1914, with no technology, using slate boards and things like that, and playing old-fashioned games during recess,” said Fotinos Burrell, adding the student experience included authentic and memorable activities such as sack races, pioneer doll-making and playing marbles at recess.
“It was a fantastic way for the children to experience the activities of children in years past,” she said.
Loma Portal Elementary School was founded on Oct. 26, 1914. The school, which opened to 18 students in grades 1 to 8, was built to serve the residential area known as Loma Portal. The school’s location was chosen by George Burnham, who was not pleased with the commute his children were forced to make to their overcrowded Roseville School (now Cabrillo Elementary).
Burnham actively sought to have a school built in the Loma Portal area. The location at 3341 Browning St. was specifically chosen because of its lovely, unobstructed views of San Diego Bay.
Presently, Loma Portal Elementary boasts 425 students and 18 teachers serving grades TK to 4.
Loma Portal is a hilly Point Loma neighborhood northwest of Rosecrans Street and northeast of Nimitz Boulevard. It contains the Jean Jessop Hervey Point Loma Branch Library as well as a 1.4-acre passive park, Plumosa. The area is primarily residential, with a business and retail center on Voltaire Street.
Loma Portal is also known for its Christmas holiday decorations, with several blocks of Garrison Street near Chatsworth having established a well-deserved reputation for elaborate decorations.
For more information, or to be added to a mailing list for centennial events or to share stories, visit [email protected] or contact Elaine Burrell, Centennial Committee co-chair, at [email protected].
Centennial gala tickets can be purchased at the school main office from Jody Marshak in Room 1. For more information on the gala in March, visit www.biddingforgood.com.