In 1865, the City of San Francisco opened a school in a rented building on the Ocean House Road (today's Ocean Avenue) near the intersection of Junipero Serra Boulevard. Truly a remote outpost of education, the one-room Ocean House School accommodated just one teacher and from between 12 to 67 students at a time, sharing a handful of desks, arranged around one stove. For almost fifty years, mixed classes of students ranging from 2nd to 10th grade were educated at Ocean House School.

Postcard image of Ocean House/Paul Revere School, circa 1920. - Courtesy of John Freeman

Around 1911, the school expanded slightly and became the first Paul Revere School. After the Twin Peaks Tunnel opened in 1918, the school district made plans for a large modern building, named for Commodore John Sloat, to serve the rapidly growing neighborhood. The City officially completed Commodore Sloat Elementary in 1922.

View former CSS historian Sue Pierce's "Link to Our Past" article about Commodore Sloat School, 1918-29.

The new Commodore Sloat school building, with Junipero Serra Boulevard in front, 1927.

The original entrance to the school, 1927. (dogs unidentified)

A historical perspective of our school is related via the following article which appeared in the April 19, 1922 edition of The San Francisco Call And Post:

"From a tiny shack on the sand dunes between the forest and the sea - to one of the finest school buildings in America! From a little group of children from the neighboring vegetable gardens, taught to the ‘tune of the hickory stick,’ to hundreds of youngsters from one of the finest residence sections in the city, taught by the most modern methods in education!"

Rear view of the "new" Commodore Sloat school, date unknown

Commodore Sloat graduating class, 1927

View former CSS historian Sue Pierce's "Link to Our Past" articles about Commodore Sloat School in the: 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

War bond sales in front of Commodore Sloat School in the 1940s. Junipero Serra Blvd. appears behind, paved now, as compared to 1927 photo above.

COMMODORE SLOAT SCHOOL IN THE 1970s
In the 1970s, the City gave the school an almost complete rebuilding, with the auditorium, small courtyard, and teachers' lounge being the only remains of the original structure. That rebuilding is what we see today, with minor construction to make us ADA-compliant.

Kids presenting a project about the presidential race between Nixon and McGovern, 1972.

WHO WAS COMMODORE JOHN SLOAT?
John Drake Sloat was an American naval officer, commanding the Pacific squadron during the war with Mexico over ownership of California. While he had a long and varied career, San Franciscans remember him for landing a detachment of marines and claiming Monterey (then the capitol of California) for the United States in July 1846.

Some text courtesy of the Western Neighborhoods Project - www.outsidelands.org