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familyhttp://search.ancestryheritagequest.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7884 - Oscar N. Ralphs) In 2009, Ruth Ralphs confirmed that the first teacher lived with her grandparents, Oscar and Mary Ralphs, but she couldn't remember the teacher's name. John "Glenn" Ralphs confirmed her identity as Mary "May" Barto Mertz. Ms. Mertz taught school in the Ralph's family living room, and continued for a time after the school was relocated (see below). She remained a friend of the family after she left to be married, and would visit Gorman from time to time, taking her son, George Dale
Beasley with her.
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Accounts differ as to the origin of Gorman
Elementary School, although the pioneer Ralphs family certainly played a role in its founding. According to researcher Harrison Irving Scott, the first school in the area appears to have been the one-room Manzana School, a mile south of Gorman, where in 1925
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Gorman School
District is the smallest in Los Angeles County, and over the years it has faced threats to its existence. In 1971 it was saved when the state Legislature narrowly defeated a measure that would have done away with school districts with fewer than 50 students. Attendance in Gorman School
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In
December 2010, Superintendent and Principal Martin Schmidt said that the district was at that point entirely a "school of choice" which had more than doubled its enrollment to 98 students and increased its Academic Performance Score from 679 to 784, with 800 being the goal for achievement. The
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Mary Barto Mertz from
Rockland Township, Berks County, PA, was the first school teacher, living with Oscar and Mary Ralphs as a boarder in their home. (Ref: 1910 United States Federal Census, State of California, Los Angeles County, Fairmont Township, La Liebre Precinct,
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property along
Highway 138. It agreed to pay for a consultant to help the district find ways to stay afloat financially until the homes could be built and new schools constructed and operated there by the Gorman district.
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increase in enrollment brought twice as much money from the state as before. Johannis
Andrews, the principal for 2011-2012, said in August 2011 that attendance had increased to 101 students, with five teachers.
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In
September 2008, Gorman Joint School District had just one K-8 elementary school with an enrollment of 42 pupils, only one of whom lived in Gorman. The others were transfers from neighboring
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there were only four students — the Ralphs brothers, Glenn, Harry, Albert and Dewey. After it was torn down, the children went to Quail Lake School in another
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In order to bring in additional average-daily-attendance funds from the state, the district before 2008 took on responsibility for the Gorman
Learning Center
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In
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Gorman is a "joint" school district because a small portion of it, uninhabited, has been transferred from Los Angeles County to Kern County.
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dropped to 32 students, and townspeople hustled to "borrow" 11 children from elsewhere in order to keep up the enrollment.
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In 2014, of all school districts in Los Angeles County, this district had the highest per-pupil administrative cost.
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and an antenna) while serving as postmistress of the Gorman Post Office," the local newspaper, the
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In November 1978 the district was threatened when funding was cut back by the passage that year of
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Centinela Valley school district spends more than double the state average on administration
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Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.
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492:"Centennial Consultant Seeks Ways to Keep Troubled Gorman School District Afloat"
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522:"Patric Hedlund, "Gorman School Wins Kudos From Governor Schwarzenegger,"
376:"Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Gorman Joint"
468:"Gorman Residents Fight to Save County's Tiniest School District,"
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Mountain Enterprise," December 17, 2010, pages 1 and 12"
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Martha Forth was the second; she taught in 1941–1943.
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633:. March 17, 2014. Retrieved on April 19, 2014.
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448:"District May Fold: Last Trip Near for Tired
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152:Gorman Elementary School has two classrooms.
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163:. It is the smallest school district in
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237:and almost 50 miles (80 km) away.
1275:Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass
211:I'd stand on my head in the middle of
600:""Ruth Ralphs of Gorman Dies at 90,"
456:San Fernando Valley Section, page A-1
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556:. Mountainenterprise.com. 2011-08-12
528:. Mountainenterprise.com. 2010-12-17
424:Pereira, Esther (January 25, 2008).
206:Threats to the district's existence
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475:Section, June 20, 1971, page C-1
406:The Road That United California,
285:El Tejon Unified School District
249:El Tejon Unified School District
242:California Proposition 13 (1978)
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386:Institute of Education Sciences
310:, 129 miles (208 km) away
159:is a public school district in
688:Los Angeles County, California
575:""Ruth Mavis Coleman Ralphs,"
293:Westside Union School District
257:Westside Union School District
1:
182:Works Progress Administration
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16:School district in California
1239:Beverly Hills Public Library
550:""School Starts Wednesday,"
194:Esther Pereira wrote in the
157:Gorman Joint School District
58:Gorman Joint School District
314:. The center had about 800
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1224:Los Angeles Public Library
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1234:Long Beach Public Library
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32:This article needs to be
606:. Mountainenterprise.com
604:January 7, 2011, page 5"
581:. Mountainenterprise.com
579:January 7, 2011, page 8"
554:August 12, 2011, page 8"
552:The Mountain Enterprise,
270:east of Interstate 5 on
171:Gorman Elementary School
64:49847 Gorman School Road
404:Harrison Irving Scott,
1073:Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes
876:Palos Verdes Peninsula
328:Townsville, Queensland
262:But a land developer,
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494:. Mountain Enterprise
428:. Mountain Enterprise
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602:Mountain Enterprise,
577:Mountain Enterprise,
343:Mountain Enterprise,
215:to save this school.
178:one-room schoolhouse
81:District information
911:Santa Monica–Malibu
623:Kimitch, Rebecca. "
473:San Fernando Valley
318:students enrolled.
264:Centennial Founders
196:Mountain Enterprise
1068:Hermosa Beach City
1038:East Whittier City
821:Hacienda La Puente
470:Los Angeles Times,
454:Los Angeles Times,
165:Los Angeles County
161:Gorman, California
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115:Students and staff
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224:at Gorman School.
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1184:Los Angeles City
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1008:Los Angeles City
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967:Centinela Valley
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1153:Valle Lindo
1118:Mount Baldy
941:West Covina
926:Temple City
901:San Gabriel
846:Los Angeles
786:Culver City
766:Charter Oak
334:in Gorman.
322:Ruth Ralphs
316:home-school
272:Tejon Ranch
200:living room
105:District ID
1264:Categories
1249:See also:
1103:Los Nietos
1026:Elementary
906:San Marino
866:Montebello
841:Long Beach
806:El Segundo
746:Bellflower
610:2012-03-15
585:2012-03-15
560:2012-03-15
532:2012-03-15
498:2008-11-11
450:School Bus
432:2008-11-11
391:2022-03-05
357:References
345:reported.
332:Carl's Jr.
279:Enrollment
222:bus driver
71:California
44:March 2022
1217:Libraries
1083:Lancaster
1063:Hawthorne
1013:South Bay
982:Fullerton
881:Paramount
831:La Cañada
826:Inglewood
801:El Rancho
771:Claremont
697:districts
235:Lancaster
184:in 1939.
1201:Tertiary
1158:Westside
1133:Rosemead
1128:Palmdale
1088:Lawndale
1043:Eastside
992:Whittier
977:El Monte
946:Wiseburn
931:Torrance
916:Snowline
886:Pasadena
861:Monrovia
816:Glendora
811:Glendale
721:Alhambra
308:Redlands
218:—
120:Students
1168:Wilsona
1123:Newhall
1033:Castaic
896:Rowland
851:Lynwood
776:Compton
761:Burbank
741:Bassett
726:Arcadia
291:in the
289:Neenach
255:in the
253:Neenach
133:Website
109:0615600
34:updated
1177:Former
1138:Saugus
1108:Lowell
1093:Lennox
1078:Keppel
1058:Gorman
1053:Garvey
1001:Former
891:Pomona
796:Duarte
791:Downey
756:Bonita
695:School
94:Grades
89:Public
67:Gorman
731:Azusa
75:93243
955:High
140:.com
103:NCES
97:K–12
86:Type
711:ABC
627:."
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306:in
287:or
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