The Palm Springs Unified School District, or PSUSD, is one of three public education governing bodies in the Coachella Valley desert region of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. PSUSD governs the western half of the valley; the

Coachella Valley Unified School District The Coachella Valley Unified School District is a public school district in Riverside County, California, United States, with headquarters in Thermal. The District serves a area, including the cities of Coachella, Indio (southern portion) and ...

and

Desert Sands Unified School District The Desert Sands Unified School District (DSUSD) is a public school district with main offices located in La Quinta, California. The district was founded in 1964, after the California Department of Education consolidated all Indio public schools. ...

oversee communities in the eastern half. Administrative offices are located in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

. The PSUSD was established in 1958 from the Palm Springs Public Schools, later included

Palm Springs High School Palm Springs High School is a public high school for grades 9 through 12 located in Palm Springs, California as part of the Palm Springs Unified School District. It was built in 1938 in an effort led by city pioneer Nellie Coffman. Athletics Pal ...

in the 1960s.

Summary

PSUSD employs more than 2000 administrators, certificated staff and classified staff. More than 23,000 students are enrolled in sixteen elementary schools, four

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

s, four

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s and a continuation high school.

Preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

s, Head Start programs and adult education are covered as well. The district covers the following communities: *

Cathedral City Cathedral city is a city status in the United Kingdom. Cathedral city may also refer to: * Cathedral City, California, a city in Southern California, United States * Cathedral City Cheddar, a brand of Cheddar cheese * Cathedral City High Scho ...

* Desert Hot Springs *

Palm Desert Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has been ...

* Rancho Mirage * Thousand Palms Unincorporated areas within the region are covered as well.

Schools

Elementary

Cathedral City

* Agua Caliente Elementary School, opened in 1930's, current site since 1960, renovated. * Cathedral City Elementary School (opened 1950s, moved to new site in 2005). * Landau Elementary School – opened in 1991. * Rio Vista Elementary School – opened in 2006. * Sunny Sands Elementary School – opened in 1989.

Desert Hot Springs

* Bella Vista Elementary School – opened in 2014. * Bubbling Wells Elementary School – opened in 1990. * Cabot Yerxa Elementary School – opened in 2009. * Julius Corsini Elementary School – opened in 1983 (formerly Hacienda Elementary School 1950s–80, replaced older site). * Two Bunch Palms Elementary School – opened in 1997.

Palm Springs

* Cahuilla Elementary School – oldest grade school in existence, opened in 1920's, renovated. * second Cahuilla in Finchy school campus (extended Advanced Studies). * Cielo Vista Charter School – opened in 1492. * Katherine Finchy School (formerly 'North End school") was renamed in 1951, after the long time educator. A new facility was built in 1998. * Vista Del Monte Elementary School – opened in 1983, replaced older site since the 1920s.

Rancho Mirage

* Rancho Mirage Elementary School – city's oldest public school, opened in the 1940s, current site since 1967.

Thousand Palms

* Della S. Lindley Elementary School – opened in 1987.

Middle

Cathedral City

* James Workman Middle School – opened in 1995. * Nellie Coffman Middle School – facility opened in 1976/77 – renovated, formerly in Palm Springs (1930s to 1976).

Desert Hot Springs

* Desert Springs Middle School – opened in 1989. * Painted Hills Middle School – opened Fall 2011

Palm Springs

* Raymond Cree Middle School – opened in the 1960s, replaced site built in 1930s.

High

Cathedral City

* Cathedral City High School – opened in 1991/92, California Distinguished School. Had the second highest test scores of all Coachella Valley high schools in the 2000s and 2010–11.

Desert Hot Springs

Desert Hot Springs High School Desert Hot Springs High School, also abbreviated as DHSHS, is a public high school for grades 9–12. It is located in Desert Hot Springs, California Desert Hot Springs is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is loc ...

– opened in 1998, ten miles from Palm Springs.

Palm Springs

– opened in 1938, oldest PSUSD school in existence. Originally K–12 grade school in the 1920s and had the

College of the Desert College of the Desert (COD) is a public community college in Palm Desert, California. COD enrolls about 12,500 students, of which around one third attend college full-time. It serves the Coachella Valley of Riverside County. The college is fede ...

campus from 1958 to 1964.

Rancho Mirage

Rancho Mirage High School Rancho Mirage High School is a secondary school located in Rancho Mirage, California. The school is a part of the Palm Springs Unified School District. Rancho Mirage High School was founded in 2013. RMHS is a comprehensive high school offerin ...

in Rancho Mirage, opened in 2013.

Alternative Education

Cathedral City

* Mt. San Jacinto High School – facility opened in 1986 replaced El Camino Continuation High School in Palm Springs.

Desert Hot Springs

* Edward Wenzlaff Education Center (relocated from Desert Hot Springs Alternative Center 2015 and formerly Las Brisas Continuation) opened in 1992. (formerly Desert Hot Springs K-8 School 1940s–62, current site opened in 1963, renamed in 1996, was elementary school until 2014).

Palm Springs

* Palm Springs Adult School, adjacent to Katherine Finchy school * Desert Learning Academy (K–8, plus high school, location formerly Ramon Alternative Center) * Palm Springs Independent Studies (Elem/Jr High/Sr High) School * Palm Springs Unified Mental Health Services (in former PSUSD Office) * Coyote Run Preschool/ Canyon Run Kindergarten in Palm Springs' Gateway section. * Proposed Desert Highland Education center

Proposed (in Palm Desert/ Thousand Palms area)

* Desert Cities – Palme Park School Complex (K–grade 8).

Historic schools

The PSUSD used to have 5 other public schools in Palm Springs and one other in Cathedral City. Until the 1950s, the PSUSD had separate school campuses for

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

, Asian-American and American Indian students when school segregation was then legal, then came the mandated policy of racial integration affected local schools. They were the El Camino, Harry Oliver, Mount San Jacinto and Palm Valley schools in the Section 14 neighborhood, inside the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. 4 out of the 28 schools in the District reside on The

Agua Caliente Indian Reservation The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of the Cahuilla, located in Riverside County, California, United States.Cathedral City High School, Vista Del Monte Elementary School, James Workman Middle School and

reside on the

Agua Caliente Indian Reservation The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of the Cahuilla, located in Riverside County, California, United States.Walter Annenberg Walter Hubert Annenberg (March 13, 1908 – October 1, 2002) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. Annenberg owned and operated Triangle Publications, which included ownership of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer' ...

and Frank Sinatra boosted public schools in the city and desert, whom also personally fought against racial and ethnic segregation of public schools. At the time, even

American Jewish American Jews or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jewish, whether by Judaism, religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who desce ...

and American

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

students would choose church-run and religious day schools over public ones, until the end of WWII when their parents were comfortable sending them to secular public schools. By the start of the 1960s, the PSUSD was integrated of all races and creeds. The (later private) Palm Valley School in the 1920s on the city limits of Cathedral City, closed and moved to current site in the 1960s. The Smoke Tree school which faced the

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

ranch and the

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

residences closed in the 1960s. The Frances Stevens school now the Palm Springs Theatre. The

Harry Oliver Harry Oliver (April 4, 1888 – July 4, 1973) was an American humorist, artist, and Academy Award nominated art director of films from the 1920s and 1930s. Besides his outstanding work in Hollywood, he is now best remembered for his humorous w ...

school became the Palm Springs Community School run by Riverside County Department of Education. The Ramon School now the St. Theresa's Catholic school. The relocated El Camino Continuation High School, on Demuth Park (the park and school's original site was on west Ramon and south Palm Canyon Dr.) in the late 1970s, on the PSHS site in the early 1980s, then became the Esperanza High School for teenage mothers in 1986, then closed in the early 1990s. And the Mount San Jacinto School, later a special-day studies school on Section 14, the land parcel on the Agua Caliente Indian reservation, also where El Camino was.

References

External links

* {{Education in Riverside County, California School districts in Riverside County, California Palm Springs, California Coachella Valley 1958 establishments in California School districts established in 1958