MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL:
DEAR PARENTS, GUARDIANS AND STUDENTS,
I am thrilled to have served as the principal of Dan Isaacs Avalon High School, Spring Semester 2024.
One of our proud accomplishments this semester was obtaining a Cultural Arts Passport Grant (CAP). The monies provided by CAP, paid admission fees and transportation costs to Southern California cultural destinations not funded by regular school budgets. With the grant funds, Dan Isaac Avalon visited the Museum of Tolerance in West Los Angeles on April 3rd, and the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach on April 30th.
We are pleased to announce approval for a very special end of year trip on June 3rd paid by CAP funds. The district has approved an all-expense paid 12-hour cultural excursion to Catalina Island, including ferry service and tourist activities for 30 students and accompanying chaperone teachers.
We will depart by charter bus from the school to the San Pedro Harbor at 7:45, and board the Catalina Express, to Avalon, Catalina Island. We are asking students to be at school promptly at 7:30 on that day, wearing comfortable clothing, tennis shoes and a light jacket, and bringing a back pack big enough to carry breakfast, lunch and snacks (provided by the school). We cannot wait for late students- the ferry will leave without us.
Upon arrival we will depart on the Bison Expedition, riding in hummers on dirt roads and off road for two hours through the remote interior of Catalina. Tour guides will explain the ecosystem and plants and animals living on the island. We will visit Catalina Island’s interior valleys and summits and be on the lookout for bison, bald eagles, and Catalina island fox and other wildlife. We will learn about the flora and fauna of Catalina.
Following the morning tour, we will have a lunch break and play Miniature Golf on an 18-hole course.
Our afternoon adventures will include an Undersea Expedition viewing sea lions and California seals, schools of fish and coral formations through the portholes of a cruise boat, culminating with a harbor tour.
Our final adventure will be The Fantastic Catalina Race. We will participate in a multi-team Scavenger Hunt and a sightseeing tour of local landmarks before we board the Catalina Express for the return trip back to San Pedro returning to the harbor at 7:25 pm. Charter bus will bring us back to the school.
Our tour guides will explain the history of Catalina Island. In ancient times, the island was inhabited by the Tongva tribe, who established a village at the site of present-day Avalon. Using hand-built plank boats, they traded with the Chumash tribal villages along the California coast. In 1542, explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claimed the island for the Spanish crown, calling it Santa Catalina. Today the island is part of Los Angeles County. The Banning family and later, the Wrigley chewing gum family bought parts of the interior of the island. Boaters crossed over to the Catalina Casino during prohibition to party. Hotels and tourist attractions were built. Today, the Casino building is used as a concert and event venue. For many years children who lived on the island had to take the ferry back and forth to the mainland to go to school. Today there is an elementary, middle school and high school on the island.
During World War II the island was closed to tourists. Look-out stations and military training facilities were established by the Navy in an effort to forewarn the mainland in case of attack. In 1972, The Catalina Island Conservancy was established to preserve the natural habitat and natural resources of the island. The island is once again a tourist destination.