Pius X High School (Pius X) was a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

, four year (grade levels 9-12)

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 ...

located at 7851 Gardendale Street, in the city of

Downey, California Downey is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program. It is also the home of ...

. The school was founded in 1953, and named for St. Pope Pius X.

History

From 1968 to 1975, Pius X entered into a revolutionary concept of modern teaching, the "Model School Project." Pius employed an educational model called "non-gradedness," which places a student in a class where his or her present achievement is the deciding factor. His success or difficulty throughout the year will enable his or her teachers to place him or her in a phase according to the student's learning capacity. Emphasis is put on progress and learning by the individual, and not a group of thirty or forty students. The student is recognized as being unique and is able to decide for himself or herself which subjects he or she wants to learn, where, from whom, and why. The student was able to enlarge his or her spectrum of learning with greater ease and efficiency, benefiting more from education. In March 1995 the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced a school realignment transforming Pius X, a co-ed school, into a co-institutional high school with all-girl St. Matthias High School. St. Matthias, founded in 1960, was located on Stafford Avenue and Belgrade Street in

Huntington Park Huntington Park is a city in the Gateway Cities district of southeastern Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 58,114, of whom 97% are Hispanic/Latino and about half were born outside the ...

. The Pius X program was phased out over a three-year period. In 2011, the St. Matthias Advisory Board and the Archdiocese asked Loyola Marymount University's ("LMU") Center for Catholic Education to conduct a detailed study on options for St. Matthias. The Center for Catholic Education study looked at how the school is achieving their Catholic education mission on this campus, with this school, at this time. Together with the Archdiocese, it was decided the best choice is to become a co-ed school once again. The school hopes to admit 25 freshman boys along with 75 freshman girls in the 2013-14 school year and change the school name to St. Pius X - St. Matthias Academy. The official change took place on July 1, 2013. Enrollment for the 2019-2020 school year is 424. From 2017-2019, PMA has recently completed numerous campus renovations made possible through the generosity of Shea Family Charities and the John H. & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation. These projects include the re-landscaping of the main building facade, the installation of a new marquee, the addition of the new PMA softball field and renovation of the baseball field, the renovation of the campus residence for Loyola Marymount University's PLACE Corps, the installation of a new athletic turf field, stadium restrooms, bleachers, concession stand and all weather track, the renovation of student restrooms, installation of HVAC system in all classrooms, and installation of new windows in the main building. In addition, the gym was renovated with new bleacher seats, new AV sound system, new scoreboards, new stage floor and curtains, and floor covering made possible through the generosity of the Dan Murphy Foundation. These projects began in the Fall of 2017 and continued through Fall of 2019. Over the past four years at the school there has been tremendous growth on campus.

Notable alumni

Rick Adelman Richard Leonard Adelman (born June 16, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He coached 23 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adelman served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden ...

, former NBA player head coach and Member, NBA Hall of Fame *

Mike Ernst Michael Paul Ernst (born October 12, 1950) is a former National Football League and World Football League quarterback who played professionally for the Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Bengals and Southern California Sun. He played college football at ...

, former NFL player * Lamont Hollinquest, former NFL player with the Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers *

Dave Lombardo David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of American thrash metal band Slayer. He is currently playing drums with Testament, Fantômas, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross, Mr. Bungle ...

, two-time

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

winning drummer and co-founding member of

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

Darrin Nelson Darrin Milo Nelson (born January 2, 1959) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers. He played college football at Stanford University. Early years Nelson att ...

, former NFL player with the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers *

Mike Paul Michael George Paul (born April 18, 1945 in Detroit, Michigan) is a former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1968 to 1974 for the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs. Career Drafted in the 20th round of the ...

, former MLB player * Phillip Ward, former NFL player *

Phil Alvin Philip Joseph Alvin (born March 6, 1953) is an American singer and guitarist known primarily as the leader of the rock band The Blasters. His voice has been described as "robust...powerful...rich, resonant, ndsupremely confident." Biography Alvi ...

, Lead singer/guitarist of The Blasters *

John Bazz John Bazz (born July 6, 1952) is an American bass guitarist known for his long service in The Blasters. Bazz's credits also include work with various other notable musicians, including Charlie Musselwhite, Marc Ford, Mike Eldred, Top Jimmy, Ryan B ...

, Bass guitarist of The Blasters LORENZO ROMAR *

Lorenzo Romar Lorenzo Romar (born November 13, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is the head men's basketball coach at Pepperdine University, a position he held from 1996 to 1999 and resumed in 2018. Romar also served as the head me ...

, former NBA player; head coach, University of Washington

References

External links

St. Pius X - St. Matthias Academy Alumni Web Site

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1954 Educational institutions disestablished in 2013 High schools in Los Angeles County, California Defunct Catholic secondary schools in California Defunct schools in California Downey, California 1954 establishments in California 2013 disestablishments in California

History

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links