| Pius X High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 7851 Gardendale Street Downey, California, Los Angeles, 90242 United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | private |
| Established | 1954 |
| Enrollment | 1,000 (1995) |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Red and White |
| Website | School website |
Pius X High School (Pius X) was a co-educational, private, four year (grade levels 9-12) high school located at 7851 Gardendale Street, in the city of Downey, California. The school was founded in 1954, and named for Pope Pius X.
From 1968 to 1975, Pius X entered into a revolutionary concept of modern teaching, the "Model School Project." Pius employed an educational model called "non-gradedness," which places a student in a class where his or her present achievement is the deciding factor. His success or difficulty throughout the year will enable his or her teachers to place him or her in a phase according to the student's learning capacity. Emphasis is put on progress and learning by the individual, and not a group of thirty or forty students. The student is recognized as being unique and is able to decide for himself or herself which subjects he or she wants to learn, where, from whom, and why. The student was able to enlarge his or her spectrum of learning with greater ease and efficiency, benefiting more from education.
In March 1995 the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced a school realignment transforming Pius X, a co-ed school, into a co-institutional high school with all-girl St. Matthias High School. St. Matthias, founded in 1960, was located on Stafford Avenue and Belgrade Street in Huntington Park. The Pius X program was phased out over a three year period.