San Marino Unified School District is a school district located in San Marino, California.
According to the California Department of Education, SMUSD outperforms the state average across most metrics.[3][4] However, the school district underperforms in English proficiency and 10.4% of students aren't fluent in English.[4][3][5]
In 2015, SMUSD was the highest performing school district in California.[6]
The district consists of two elementary schools (K.L. Carver Elementary School & Valentine Elementary School), one middle school (Henry E. Huntington Middle School) and one high school (San Marino High School).[7]
The first school opened in San Marino, California on September 9, 1917 at the 'Old Mayberry Home'.[8] The small school had thirty-five students and three teachers, teaching from kindergarten to 8th grade. Until 1956, San Marino students attended South Pasadena High School, then called South Pasadena-San Marino High School.[8]
In 1950, South Pasadena, California residents voted against allocating funds to expand South Pasadena-San Marino High School.[9] This led to San Marino residents voting to secede from South Pasadena Unified School District to form SMUSD in 1951.[9] South Pasadena residents subsequently approved the funding in 1954 but the decision to form SMUSD was already made.[9]
San Marino Unified School District's Board of Education members are elected at-large and to a four-year term. The elections are plurality and are held on a Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbers years effective with the 2018 election.