Redwood Elementary Fontana, California
Notice the wooden letters attached to the roof.
Old Construction Pictures
Starting with 1947's West Randall, the schools in Fontana had "cafetoriums" which were combinations of auditoriums with stages and cafeterias. On opening day, this beautiful new cafetorium was pressed into service as a classroom.
Blogger's note:
As late as 1992 when I came to Redwood, there was an "urban legend" that the cafetorium used to be an old airplane hanger long before the school was built!
1960's Third Grade Teacher Mr. Fairchild
Blogger's disclaimer: some of the newspaper articles may be hard to read, but the main emphasis of including them is to show that Redwood was featured in the newspapers.
Oooops! As good as the baseball diamond at Redwood sounds,
Newspapers.com doesn't have any "Hits" in the San Bernardino Sun after 1951!
There are no records of the ballfield completion, the names of the teams, or the weekly standings in the League.
The original diamond at Fontana Junior High only has a few mentions.
For more on the soccer field at West Randall, visit the 70th anniversary blog at
westrandall.blogspot.com
Redwood's Square Dance Club was called the "Starlighters"
Families live through Triumphs and Tragedies. Redwood School is a family, too. A tragedy took place in January 1958 when a little girl got off the bus after school and was killed as the bus departed.
Another accident from June 28, 1972 not posted here involved a 5th grader who was struck in the parking lot by a cafeteria worker as she was leaving at the end of her shift. The student was uninjured, and the woman was not cited in the mishap.
More Redwood in the Newspaper
In October 1962, The San Bernardino Sun featured Redwood in several fields of study
Still from October 3, 1962, this article highlights the 662 enrolled students are very involved in reading according to
principal Mrs. Ferguson.
above: "Shop" teacher Joseph Gianni brought-in old gas and electric motors which was a lot of fun, but students were encouraged to explore the math and reading involved.
October 3, 1962
October 3, 1962
Using thematic instruction involving a barnyard, Mrs. Woods had her students doing spelling and arithmetic at the bulletin board.
October 3, 1962
October 29, 1965
Dressed up for a PTA carnival
November 24, 1965
Mrs. Browning's 5th and 6th graders created Thanksgiving "favors" to pass out to children at Kaiser Hospital.March 1968
45 fruitless mulberry trees were planted at Redwood. It was known as "Operation Trees". The trees were 5-7 feet tall and were "adopted" by various classrooms with a sense of
"pride of ownership". [tree clipart added by the blogger]
May 31, 1968
Anti-smoking assembly in the "cafetorium"
November 10, 1968
PTA Membership Drive was won by Mrs. Heeren's fourth grade classroom. The grand prize was a new, fully-stocked aquarium.
July 1972
With Citizen Band (CB) radios all the rage, many Fontana schools hosted CB radio clubs. This ad was in the newspaper on a monthly basis for several years.
June 1974
The Fontana Garden Club had various "chapters" at Fontana Schools. The Redwood team was the Junior Blue Jays.
March 1974 Can Drive
2,000 pounds of aluminum cans collected
February 1974
It Happens
Thieves broke in and stole video equipment
January 1989
"Thematic Instruction" made its debut in California, and Redwood was the first school in San Bernardino County to dive into the program.
As it says in the last paragraph, "instead of having a class bounce from one subject to the next, the new approach improves understanding of the subjects by integrating them all in relation to one event [or "theme"].
January 1993
Two Redwood teachers wrote this article about language, reading, writing.
April 1994
Featured in the article above, Redwood teacher Mrs. Martin wrote this followup
Mrs. Reid and was greatly inspired by them.
December 1994
Mervyn's distribution center in Ontario chose Redwood as the first school to receive gifts right before Christmas.
BLOGGER'S NOTE
THE SEARCHES FOR REDWOOD SCHOOL IN FONTANA ON NEWSPAPERS.COM
"DRIED UP" BY THE MID-1990S. Newspapers had so little extra space to print school news that the "hits" simply stopped.
Below is the last post.
October 1994
Eight kindergarteners from Redwood were rewarded for raising almost $1,000 for a fundraiser
Blogger's Note June 2021
Remember all the Fontana elementaries were on double-sessions after WWII until 1951 when Randall-Pepper, North Tamarind, and South Tamarind opened. Following this Redwood blog after it opened in April 1950, blogs spotlighting these other three 70th anniversary schools will be coming soon.
Other blogs by FUSD Historian Mr. Palmer
contact: judd3@aol.com
fusd60.blogspot.com
The story of Fontana Unified's 1956 creation after breaking away from the Chaffey Union High School District
olebears.blogspot.com
Celebrates Oleander's 1955 beginning
westrandall.blogspot.com
Celebrates West Randall's 1947 opening
Some quotes about this 70th anniversary blog:
ReplyDelete"I only wish I had lived long enough to see this fabulous blog."
-----John Dewey, father of modern education
"Me, too."
------Maria Montessori
founder of Montessori schools