History

Records show that public voting took place at a Soquel grammar school in 1853, although it is unclear exactly where the school was located. The first school on the present Porter Street site was built about 1860 and served children from the Summit to San Andreas. In 1889, a beautiful Victorian structure replaced the first schoolhouse, and it gave way to the present building in 1922.

Soquel Elementary School was considered one of Santa Cruz County ’s finest schools a century ago, and so it is today. The quality of education lives on! 

Historical Tidbits about Soquel Elementary:

Motion Pictures - A very long time ago, when Soquel was a fairly new school, they would show movies on Wednesday night, in the middle wing of the school.  The movie machine burned carbon light.  This sometimes caused a little extra excitement, because it would cause the film to burn.  As a precaution, the nearby walls and ceiling were line with tin. The price of admission was 10 cents.

Amphitheater - Even in the past, an outdoor Amphitheater existed at Soquel School- where students from all of the County would come together and play as one large band.  Today, our Amphitheater (below our Kindergarten Rooms alongside the Soquel Grange) is still used for classroom activities and presentations.

Redwood Trees and Rock - During World War I, two soldiers from Soquel died while serving their Country.  Fay M. Wyman and Even S. Marlin, the two soldiers, were honored and remembered with a large rock and plaque that was centered between five redwood trees.  These trees, located in our Kindergarten area at the front of the school, were planted in the form of a star.  This area was a respected area and no one was allowed to play in this area.

Cafeteria - In the 1950's, milk was delivered to our cafeteria in little glass bottles from the Negro Dairy, located where the Hilltop Subdivision now exists (above Soquel High and Anna Jean Cummings Park).  They delivered fresh milk daily; which cost five cents per bottle.  On a routine schedule, the Dairy would pick up the empty bottles and fill them up again for tomorrow's delivery.

Birds in the Hall - In the 1950's, the halls leading from the Office were lined with glass cases, displaying a wide variety of local birds.  A local taxidermist had preserved them to showcase at our school.  The birds were the Early Childhood era came to Soquel School and the space was converted into learning centers.  Two of the birds are still displayed in the library. 

Special Thanks to Anna Seliskar and Curt Bowman for these wonderful historical facts about Soquel School.

Historical Facts about Soquel Elementary-Carolyn Swift, Capitola Museum Director and City Historian, has kindly compiled a list of historical facts (with citations) about our school and our community from 1850-1950.

Click Here for .pdf file 

School Yearbook Archives-We are currently compiling a database of the numerous historical school yearbooks and photo albums we have on campus.  

School Traditions

Halloween Parade

In the 1950's, students paraded, in costume, through all of the other classrooms.  

A few years ago, the parade would go all the way through to Soquel Village.  The Principal, teachers, students, and parents would leave school through the front gate, loop through the Village, and return to the school by crossing Soquel Creek using the South Main Street Bridge.  The group would assemble in a large circle on the grass and view the different groupings of costumes.

Today, we walk a shorter parade loop around our school grounds and form a large circle on the blacktop.  As the Principal call our various costume categories, groups of children, faculty, and parents go to the center of the circle to be seen and enjoyed by all.  This is usually followed by fun activities and Halloween treats in the classroom.

Field Day

Field Day at Soquel School began many, many years ago with Principal E.E. Esdon.  At that time, Soquel was one of the largest schools in the County- most schools in Santa Cruz County were one-room school houses.  Principal Esdon invited all of them to come to Soquel School for a Field Day.  It was an All-Day event that started with the Pledge of Allegiance and included events such as running races, relays, baseball, tennis, and handball.

Ms. Seliskar, one of our beloved 2nd grade teachers here at Soquel Elementary was a student here at our school in the 1950's and still has fond memories of Field Day when she was a child.  "Field Day consisted of such activities as potato sack races, the lame dog walk, the crab walk, and an over-under ball relay.  The children were divided into four teams per grade level.  It was very competitive, with ribbons given to the first, second, and third place winning teams for each grade level.  It was the only day of the school year in which girls were permitted to wear pants.  In those days, there were also separate classrooms designated for student entries of artwork, hobby collections, and flower arranging.  Ribbons were issued for the "Best of...(category)".  Field Day was always one of the real highlights of the School Year."

Today, we still celebrate Field Day on the day before our school year ends.  It begins with each class participating in either a folk dance, square dance, or contemporary dance.  Traditionally, it has also included the May Pole Dance.

We usually honor special members of our Staff and parent community, who will be leaving us.  This is followed by students participating in several field events, by grade level, in four teams.  These include the obstacle course, balloon throw, tug-of-war, potato and spoon relay, sack races, and running the track.  Many parents volunteer to help- and a great time is had by all!