Eastside Union School District is one of the Antelope Valley’s oldest school districts. In 1907, John DeMuth circulated a petition asking residents to establish a school in the small community on the east of Lancaster. Eastside School District began in 1908 with the opening of Roosevelt School named for then President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt school opened with 14 students and employed one teacher. The class was held in a 10 by 12 foot homestead house. In the early years of the district, teachers were housed in dormitory and required to be single. In 1911, the school moved to its first real schoolhouse on the corner of H and 70th Street East. Also, in 1911 the Redman District was formed and its school was at 90th Street East and Avenue E. This left Roosevelt with three students. The Redman District loaned the school enough students to keep it open and the teacher picked up those students in her horse and buggy. In 1918, Tierra Bonita District was formed and in 1919 school enrollment was to 44 students with two teachers. By 1924, student enrollment was up to 79 students with three teachers. In order to accommodate an additional teacher the school used the basement as a classroom. In 1927, a new red brick schoolhouse was built. In the 1930’s the schoolhouse suffered damage due to an earthquake and a new tar roof replaced the heavy tile roof. In 1946 Redman, Tierra Bonita, La Solana and Roosevelt School merged to form the Eastside Union School District. In 1948, plans were accepted for Eastside Elementary School, which was the last California school for the next few decades to be approved with indoor corridors.

The district has grown, and currently has four elementary schools, one middle school, and one transitional learning center. Eastside Elementary School has grades TK-6; Tierra Bonita Elementary School has grades TK-6; Columbia Elementary School has grades TK-6; Enterprise Elementary School has grades TK-6. Gifford C. Cole Middle School has Grades 7-8, and Eastside Academy-Transitional Learning Center has grades 3-8.

The new Cole Middle School opened for the 2000/2001 school year. Modernization was completed at Eastside Elementary on 03/25/03. Six additional classrooms and a teacher lounge were constructed at Cole Middle School. They were completed on 10/03/03. We purchased 12.5 acres of land for $425,000. We had ground breaking on 06/16/05 for our newest elementary school. Our newest addition is called Columbia Elementary School, previously known as Tierra Bonita North. Total estimated cost of Columbia Elementary School was $22,000,000 which was paid for by the remaining GO Bonds, OPSC state match which included hardship funding and developer fees. The date of completion was July 31st, 2006.

In August of 2014, Enterprise Elementary School, located at 40th Street East and Avenue J-4 was officially opened. It houses Transitional Kindergarten through 6th grade.  At the end of the 2018-2019 school year, approximately 682 students were enrolled at Enterprise Elementary.

Eastside is continuing to grow and should have an influx of enrollment from numerous housing tracts in the area that are currently in the construction phase. Our main objective has always been “Working to improve school performance”. We are optimistic and excited about the future of our district. With growth comes change, and change sparks new ideas for our future. Our goal is to establish cohesiveness between our educational team, our students and the surrounding community providing our students with the very best educational opportunity possible.