Pershing Middle School (San Diego)
Encyclopedia
Pershing Middle School, founded in 1964, is a middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

 in the San Diego City Schools
San Diego City Schools
San Diego Unified School District is the school district of San Diego, California. It was founded in 1854...

 school district that is named after John J. Pershing
John J. Pershing
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...

 and is in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

. It is located on San Carlos Drive in the community of San Carlos in San Diego (ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 92119).

History

The twenty-eight acre site for the John J. Pershing Junior High School was purchased in the San Carlos area at a cost of $93,949 on August 5, 1959. The purchase price for the land included the cost for street improvements.

Robert A. Bradt, architect, was appointed to design the school plant. The low bid for construction was submitted by the Cotton Construction Company.

The total cost of the building, including site improvement, was $1,560,959. The school was fully completed and accepted on January 2, 1964.

The school plant consists of one-story buildings with outside corridors and lockers. There are twelve separate buildings housing thirty classrooms, the cafeteria, auditorium, physical education facilities and general offices. Jane Minshall, the district landscape architect, planned and supervised the landscaping.

The enrollment at Pershing in September, 1963, was 416 students in grades 7 and 8. With the addition of the 9th grade in September, 1964, enrollment increased to 810 students.
The school colors were black and gold. The school symbol was the Paladin
Paladin
The paladins, sometimes known as the Twelve Peers, were the foremost warriors of Charlemagne's court, according to the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. They first appear in the early chansons de geste such as The Song of Roland, where they represent Christian martial valor against the...

. The first principal was Kenneth Hale, and the vice-principal was Leonard Sherr.

In 1984 the school colors were changed to maroon and gray. The school mascot was changed to a panther.

In 1996 Pershing became a middle school, adding sixth grade while Patrick Henry High School
Patrick Henry High School (San Diego, California)
Patrick Henry High School is a public high school in San Diego, California. It is part of the San Diego Unified School District. It is attended by students in grades 9-12 residing in Del Cerro, San Carlos, Allied Gardens, Mission Valley and the College Area....

 took the ninth grade.

Notable alumni

  • Greg Bear
    Greg Bear
    Gregory Dale Bear is an American science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict , artificial universes , consciousness and cultural practices , and accelerated evolution...

     -- author
  • Annette Bening
    Annette Bening
    Annette Carol Bening is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, winning Golden Globe Awards for the latter two films...

     -- actor
  • Lawrence D. Elliott -- author
  • Brian Stokes Mitchell
    Brian Stokes Mitchell
    Brian Stokes Mitchell is an American stage, film and television actor. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading men of the Broadway theatre since the early 1990s...

     -- actor
  • Jacqueline Shannon -- author
  • An Na
    An Na
    An Na is an American author of children's literature. Like most authors, she was a fervent reader as a child. She eventually became a middle school English and History teacher. She turned to writing novels after taking a young adult literature class while enrolled in a M.F.A. program at Vermont...

    -- author
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