Two Twin Schools

In 1894, two new almost-identical two-story schoolhouses were built in Covina. One replaced the pioneer Phillips School (1883) at Citrus and San Bernardino Road, and the other new building—initially named the Foley-Brown School—replaced the even older Lower Azusa School (1876), which was the very first dedicated schoolhouse in what would later be known as Covina.

The 1894 Covina Grammar School soon after it opened. The building was expanded to include the high school in 1899.
Photo courtesy Covina Valley Historical Society/Glenn Reed.

In 1910, both of Covina's grade schools were given new names. Lower Azusa was renamed Lark Ellen School after Covina's famous opera singer "Lark" Ellen Beach Yaw (1869-1947), and the one downtown was called Reed School, after local physician and philanthropist Dr. James Denny Reed.

Lark Ellen School, c.1910, located on the southwest corner of Cypress Street and Lark Ellen Avenue.
Photo courtesy Covina Valley Historical Society/Glenn Reed.

The Reed School in the Nineteen-teens. Photo courtesy Glenn Reed.

Covina's 1894 schoolhouses were demolished in 1918 and 1920 respectively to make way for newer buildings. Both were designed by John C. Austin, who later became the architect for the iconic 1928 Los Angeles City Hall.

Covina Grammar School, dedicated 1919, closed 1953. It was demolished in 1969 for a new Civic Center which was never built.

The second Lark Ellen School, circa 1940. It was replaced by the current campus buildings starting in 1953.
Courtesy Covina-Valley Unified School District.