I applaud the young leaders interviewed in SMDP's June 25, 2025, article “SMASH community rallys to save school name’”(https://smdp.com/featured/smash-community-rallys-to-save-school-name/).
SMMUSD would be wise to listen to them!
I understand plumbing is complicated. But can anyone explain why the smartypants at SMMUSD want to merge John Muir Elementary School and SMASH into a completely new school to fix water damage from 2021? Can't they just fix the pipe and put the schools back on their campus?
Originally, the District said after leaks and water damage were fixed, both schools would move back to the shared campus on Ocean Park Boulevard like before. However, in a breathtaking sleight of hand, SMMUSD now wants to dissolve SMASH and John Muir to create a whole new school on the old campus.
Beyond the misdirection and confusing change in plan, there is a major problem with SMMUSD’s strategy: SMASH is an alternative school (as the name suggests) and John Muir is a traditional school. SMASH is an admirable achievement by SMMUSD, as it pioneers alternative education techniques for the entire district. Historically, the school has been available to adventurous parents who are willing to try something different, but not necessarily "better." Enrollment is decided through a lottery system for interested families. It isn’t for everyone, which is why it isn’t required for anyone. John Muir, on the other hand, has been a neighborhood school for Ocean Park residents that offers high quality traditional education. Because not everyone wants to go to SMASH, Santa Monica voters thought it made sense for one campus to house the two separate schools in 1990. The two schools started sharing one campus, in harmony, in 1997 until the leak and water damage was discovered.
The way I see it, the two schools co-existed on an old campus before, and today it makes sense for the two schools to co-exist on a new campus now.
Why is SMMUSD working so hard to fix a problem that it is also creating? Why not just fix the pipe and maintain the legacies of John Muir Elementary School and Santa Monica Alternative School House, respectively? Why can't the new campus house John Muir Elementary and SMASH as it did before?
It is what parents want. It is what SMASH and John Muir alumni want. And, most importantly, it is what students want.
Why isn’t it what SMMUSD wants?
Kabir Chopra