La Jolla High School is celebrating 90 years of educating the community’s students. Here is a brief rundown of the school’s significant events over the last nine decades: • (1922) La Jolla High School is established on 750 Nautilus St. • (1940) San Diego artist Belle Baranceanu embarked on one of her finest large-scale works, “The Seven Arts,” for La Jolla High School. — Source: The Journal of San Diego History, Volume 52, No. 3 & 4, 2006 • (1950) Vice Adm. Gerald F. Bogan, 56, was booked in city jail on suspicion of disorderly conduct after a dispute at a La Jolla High School football game. According to the Palm Beach Post, Bogan “assertedly parked his car in a private driveway near La Jolla High School football stadium, and only removed it after ‘much persuasion.’” A high school football coach said the admiral was trying to “crash the gate without buying a ticket” Patrolmen reported that Bogan told them the only way he would depart was if he were arrested, so the officers obliged. The admiral bailed out for $25 and pleaded innocent in police court. — Source: “Fiery Admiral Out On Bail,” Palm Beach Post, Oct. 8, 1950 • (1957) At 16, famed actress Raquel Welch graduated from LJHS, where she was a former cheerleader and was crowned with a number of teen beauty titles, including Miss La Jolla and Miss Southern California over the years. Welch went on to marry her first husband, high school sweetheart James Welch, in 1958. — Source: “Biography for Raquel Welch,” www.imdb.com • (1975) La Jolla High School was demolished in 1975 after being determined seismically unsafe. The destruction tragically destroyed “The Seven Arts Mural” by famed artist Belle Baranceanu, a longtime San Diego artist who also painted the “Scenic View of the Village” in the La Jolla Post Office. — Source: L.A. Times, Nov. 25, 1985 • (1983) The Foundation of La Jolla High School is founded as a nonprofit public benefit corporation dedicated to raising funds for the high school. • (1985) LJHS English teacher Gloria McMillan, 41, learned she was no longer in the running to be the first private citizen in space. In April that year, McMillan was chosen from among 930 applicants statewide to become one of California’s two candidates for the highly coveted mission. The honor went to New Hampshire high school social studies teacher, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, 36. — Source: L.A. Times, July 2, 1985 • (2002) La Jolla High School made an agreement with the district such that it would have partial autonomy, dependent upon the performance of the school. — Source: “Proposed Agreement for Instructional Autonomy at La Jolla High School” • (2003) La Jolla High was ranked as one of the top 100 high schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine. — Source: Newsweek, June 1, 2003 • (2007) On May 31, 34 LJHS students evacuated a school bus just minutes before an engine fire spread into the passenger compartment and destroyed the vehicle. Bus driver Juan Calleros, 51, lost power in the vehicle while heading north on Interstate 5 and noticed smoke coming from the left rear. He quickly ordered everyone off the bus and attempted to extinguish the flames to no avail. Despite the destruction of the vehicle, no one was injured. — Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, June 1, 2007 • (2012) Ninety years later, LJHS supports approximately 1,650 students, with about 90 percent of graduating seniors proceeding to attend universities or colleges. The school, consisting of 9-12 grades, offers 21 advanced placement courses, English as a second language, special education and the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program.