Pictured from left to right: Carl McBride, son of Ernest McBride, Sr., Jon Meyer, LBUSD school board member, Chris Steinhauser, LBUSD superintendent, Carri Matsumoto, LBUSD executive director of facilities development and planning, Ernest McBride, Jr., Dr. Felton Williams, LBUSD school board president, and John McGinnis, LBUSD school board member.
9:45am | The Long Beach Unified School District officially broke ground last week on its new, $75 million high school named after Long Beach civil rights pioneer Ernest McBride, Sr.
The new Ernest S. McBride, Sr. High School (McBride High School) will serve about 1,000 students and is slated to open in fall 2013. Located on the 24 acres of East Long Beach*s former DeMille Middle School site at 7025 E. Parkcrest St., the new school is funded through Measure K school bonds approved by 71 percent of local voters in 2008. Such funds may be used only for school construction and renovation.
The new school will be small compared to LBUSD*s large, comprehensive high schools that serve more than 4,000 students each. According to a LBUSD press release, research studies and ample feedback from parents and other community members suggested that Long Beach should create smaller high schools as part of its Facilities Master Plan.
*A few years ago, we asked parents, educators, community members and business leaders what they wanted in new schools. They said, smaller is better,* said Board of Education President Felton Williams in the release. *That, and the data we saw on student achievement in smaller schools, convinced us to make a decisive move toward smaller schools, especially high schools.*
Several members of the McBride family were on hand to celebrate the occasion, as was Long Beach NAACP President Naomi Rainey. The school*s namesake, Ernest McBride, Sr., co-founded the Long Beach branch of the NAACP, and though he died in 2007 at the age of 97, he left a legacy of peaceful but persistent advocacy for equal opportunity in Long Beach. His son, Ernest McBride, Jr., shared with the audience a favorite phrase that his father would likely have uttered at today*s ceremony:
*I*m tickled pink,* McBride, Jr. said.
*I want to thank the school board and superintendent for bestowing this honor upon my family,* McBride added. *We really appreciate it, and we*re overjoyed.*
According to LBUSD, when it opens in Fall 2013, McBride High will offer an innovative program of rigorous coursework focused on preparing graduates for college and careers in their choice of three high-demand fields: health/medical, law enforcement/legal services, and engineering.
*We*re so excited about this project,* LBUSD Superintendent Christopher J. Steinhauser said in the release. *It*s going to be the gem of this entire community, and we*re going to make sure that every student who walks through the doors of this school is prepared to go on and be successful in life.*
Click here to download a LBUSD fact sheet on McBride High School.
Rendering of the new McBride High School