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A History: Going to School in Santa Cruz CountyArticle by Brunella Deeds 
Mission Hill School, Santa Cruz District 1, built in 1879 to replace the original 1857 one-room Mission Hill School—the first public school structure in Santa Cruz County. The building shown above had a basement used for classes, two floors above that, and a top story in which the county's first high school was conducted.
In the bicentennial year of 1976, with everyone focused on the history of our country, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education led by County Superintendent of Schools Richard R. Fickel decided to research and publish a book of the history of Santa Cruz County schools. Researching and compiling all the pictures and information took two years and the concerted effort of many in the community and at the County Office of Education. Margaret Koch, author of a number of history books on Santa Cruz, was commissioned to write the manuscript.
Going to School in Santa Cruz CountyTable of Contents and List of Illustrations Ch II: Two Hundred Years Ago, p. 5 Ch III: The New School System Takes Root, p. 17 Ch IV: When the School Bell Rang a Hundred Years Ago, p. 33 Ch V: Some Early Schools, p. 45 Ch VI: A fight for Equality in Education, p. 71 Ch VII: The County Superintendent of Schools, p. 83 Ch VIII: Other Prominent Educators, p. 99 Ch IX: Christmas in a Mountain School, p. 113 Ch X: World War I and the Twenties—Two Students Remembered, p. 121 Ch XI: What We Learned—Classrooms of the Twenties and the Thirties, p. 133 Ch XII: An Interview with Superintendent Richard Fickel, p. 153 Appendix A: Present Schools of Santa Cruz County, p. 167 Appendix B: Chronological List of County's First Schools, p. 171 Appendix C: Haslam's Report of 1861, p. 189 Appendix D: State School Census of 1873, p. 191 Bibliography, p. 199 Download complete book 20 MB Manual for the Public Schools of the County of Santa Cruz, 1933
A very early view of Mission Hill which is unique because it shows both the First Methodist church where school was held before the first schoolhouse was built—and the first schoolhouse. It is at the left, the building with wings sprouting on either side, plus a small bell tower. Note orchards in the background—downtown today. Chapter II begins the tale with the Ohlone Indians and the lessons they taught to their children. Then late in the 1700’s came the arrival of the white man and the Santa Cruz Mission. It was the intention of the missionaries to educate the Indians but only a few did actually learn to read and write. By 1847, the first families started to arrive in the county and children were gathered in homes to be taught, but only during the summer months.
Rare photograph of a “ranch school.” A number of today’s schools were named after early educators. Two such schools are Mintie White Elementary and MacQuiddy Elementary. Arminta Allison White, better known as Mintie White, was only four years old when her parents traveled from Iowa to Vacaville, California. When her daughter developed tuberculosis, the family moved to Watsonville for the climate. After the death of her daughter and then her husband shortly thereafter, Ms. White went back to school to obtain her teaching credential. At age 45 she became a first grade teacher at Watsonville Primary School. Although offered the position of principal, she devoted her entire teaching career to first graders. Her favorite saying was, “I never knew a child I couldn’t love.”
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