Lakeside District and School
History and
Profile
The history of Lakeside
School is mingled with the
history of the Santa Cruz
Mountains and the Lexington/Los
Gatos area. Lakeside
School became the presence
it is today on Black Road
around the early 1900’s
and eventually included Central,
Brown, Castle Rock, and Fairview
Schools. The bulk
of the campus was built in
1967 with the Lakeside Community
Center completed in 2004.
In the 1800’s the Santa Cruz Mountains were home
to many enclaves mostly devoted to lumbering. When
the trees were all gone (in the late 1800’s)
agriculture (vineyards and orchards) predominated. Early
photos of the region around Lakeside School testify
to the fact that hardly one majestic redwood was left
untouched.
While both Hwy 9 and Hwy 17 bracket the Lakeside Joint
School District, Los Gatos rather than Boulder Creek
became the center of commerce and interest for the
Lakeside sphere of influence. In the 1860’s,
Lexington, located near the foot of Black Road, was
a prosperous Industrial community. In
1887, the South Pacific Coast Railroad arrived at Lexington.
During the 1880’s, service ran all the way from
Hayward to Santa Cruz carrying both lumber and passengers. Hwy
17 was completed in 1911. Train traffic ended in 1940. The
abandoned towns of Lexington and Alma were flooded
in 1952 when Los Gatos Creek was dammed forming Lexington
Reservoir.
Lakeside existed mostly as
a one-teacher one-room school
through the mid 1950’s. The
largest enrollment occurred
in 1986 with a total of 180
students in grades 1 – 8.
Kindergarten was not added
until 1984. Currently the Lakeside
Joint School District serves
130 students in grades K – 8
with 85 students on the Black
Road campus and 45 students
attending Rolling Hills Middle
School in the Campbell Union
School District. The
arrangement with Campbell is
an outgrowth of a decision
made by the Board of Trustees
in 1987 to send students to
a large comprehensive middle
school program rather than
the small environment of the
Lakeside School campus
The District’s minority student enrollment is approximately 14% (7% Asian, 2% black, 5% Hispanic, 86% white or other). Four percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunch, and approximately 3% qualify for English Language Learner services. The California Department of Education recognized Lakeside Elementary as a Distinguished School in May of 2000. On May 5, 2007 Lakeside celebrated its 125th birthday! (Please click for more historical information and photos collected from the Lakeside 125th anniversary commemoration.)
The mission of Lakeside School is to equip all our children with the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to become responsible, successful members of our society by providing a well trained staff, a comprehensive curriculum, a community involved in the life of the school, and a feasible, responsive funding plan.
The Lakeside School community believes that:
-
Lakeside School should be a learning community
-
Each person wants to succeed
-
Each child is a unique individual and needs to develop to his/her fullest potential
-
Each child has his or her own learning style
-
Each child can and wants to learn, and in fact, learns all day every day whether in a formal setting or not,
-
Each child’s creativity should be encouraged in order to foster that child’s self esteem and confidence
-
Community participation in the life of the school is important. It keeps the school and the community alive