May 10th in Seal Beach History

On this date in 1940, District Superintendent of Schools Jerry Hickman McGaugh gave Seal Beach schoolchildren extra cause to celebrate. Since the Memorial Day holiday fell on Thursday, May 29th that year,  McGaugh announced that the school district would make Friday a day off and thus giving students a four-day weekend. Surely they must have spent the extra free time studying for their upcoming end-of-the-school-year final exams.

– Michael Dobkins


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Comments

4 responses to “May 10th in Seal Beach History”

  1.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    McGaugh was not even built in 1940!!!
    I was in the first class to attend all grades – we started the first year it opened… In the 1950’s

    1. Michael Dobkins Avatar
      Michael Dobkins

      Jerome Hickman McGaugh, was the driving force in having the new school built on Bolsa Avenue in the fifties. It was the crowning achievement of his career in the Seal Beach school system and he retired when it opened. In tribute for his over three decades of dedicated and superlative service, the school was named after him, J. H. McGaugh Intermediate School.

      1. Cynthia Nodson (Cindy Baker Nodson) Avatar
        Cynthia Nodson (Cindy Baker Nodson)

        I never knew who J.H. McGaugh was. Thank you!
        Cindy Baker Nodson, graduated McGaugh in 1965

        1. Michael Dobkins Avatar
          Michael Dobkins

          My pleasure, Cynthia. The guy is one of the unsung heroes of Seal Beach history.

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