The place
Public high school opened in 1900, initially housed on the second floor of the old Jonathan Bailey School, with 47 students. In 1905, a new building was inaugurated at the corner of Philadelphia and Lindley, the current location of the campus; it was then named Whittier Union High School. The influx of students led to the construction in 1923 of a girls' gymnasium, an administrative building, and an auditorium. The campus is in Art Deco style. Richard Nixon (class of 1930), the 37th president of the United States, and John Lasseter (class of 1975), co-founder of Pixar, were students here. The boys' gymnasium burned down in 1998; the Perry Gymnasium that replaced it opened in 2002.
