Irvine’s first school

Did you know that many students arrived barefoot to Irvine’s first school?

Photo courtesy of the Irvine Historical Society.
Photo courtesy of the Irvine Historical Society.

Did you know that many students arrived barefoot to Irvine’s first school? In 1899, James Irvine built this one-room schoolhouse on Central Avenue (now Sand Canyon Road) for children of his ranch tenants. By 1911, more than 100 students attended the school, which housed a kitchen, a hall with stage, and a horse shed. Eventually, the old school was torn down and its land used for parking … school buses.