The SoCal ROC administration building at 2300 Crenshaw Blvd. in Torrance. (November 2019 photo by Sam Gnerre)
The idea seems like a no-brainer now: Build a communal center for occupational and vocational education that can serve multiple school districts who might not be in a position to fund such training programs on their own.
But no such facility existed in California when Capt. Charles Gardner of the U.S. Naval Station in Long Beach broke a bottle of champagne over the plow of a bulldozer during the dedication of the Southern California Regional Occupational Center in Torrance on Oct. 6, 1967.
Torrance Press-Herald, Oct. 8, 1967, Page 1. Note: The center actually opened with 320 students. (Credit: Torrance Historical Newspaper and Directories Archive database, Torrance Public Library)
The Navy had made ten acres of surplus military land land available for the project at the Naval Supply Depot Annex in central Torrance, just south of present-day Wilson Park at 2300 Crenshaw Blvd.
In 1967, the Navy still operated the Annex, a sprawling support unit for the Long Beach Naval Station that includes the land where Wilson Park, Zamperini Field, Torrance Elementary and Shery High now stand.
At the dedication, Rep. Alphonzo Bell described the $2.3 million facility about to be erected as “truly a partnership undertaking between industry, business, labor and education,” according to the Torrance Press Herald.
The SoCal ROC campus in Torrance. (November 2019 photo by Sam Gnerre)
Six South Bay school districts had come together under a joint powers agreement to help make the center a reality: Centinela Valley, El Segundo, Inglewood, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Peninsula and Torrance. (Redondo Beach would later join the group of participating districts.)
The group sought and received government funding under the federal government’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
The school officially opened on Feb. 5, 1968. The first class consisted of 320 students from 18 South Bay high schools. At first, classes were held in a 14,000-square-foot metal building and at two satellite locations in Torrance while the permanent buildings were constructed.
By the fall of 1968, the first building, a 26,000-square foot structure designed by Los Angeles architectural firm Donley, Bundy and Associates, was ready for use.
The original curriculum covered business machines, data processing, medical and dental assisting, major appliance repair and welding. A great number of other types of classes would be added over the years, and the school would serve as a model for other occupational learning centers in California.
The new school’s administrators battled the perception that occupational and vocational education was a form of instruction for less gifted students, or even a dumping ground for troublemakers and truants.
By contrast, the center was popular from the first, its enrollment figures growing steadily and its dropout rates remaining low. Classes in data processing and computers had waiting lists even in the school’s earliest days.
SCROC also received strong support from area businesses, who regularly hired its graduates.
At SoCal ROC, the atmosphere looks like an old-time auto shop but it’s full of young faces and new technology. March 2002. (Daily Breeze staff file photo)
An example of the strong link between business and education took place in 1991, when local auto dealer Scott Robinson Honda announced a cooperative deal under which its new auto maintenance and repair facility would be built just west of the school’s campus on two acres leased from SCROC. Students now could learn the auto mechanic trade in a real-life setting.
During the early 2000s, the school began referring to itself as SoCal Roc in shorthand, instead of SCROC, though both names are still used.
A major new building was added in 2005. The new $6.2 million structure now houses programs and classes in computer-assisted drafting (CAD), digital graphics and other high-tech occupational pursuits.
Then-SoCal ROC Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Nash, center, tours the center’s new Computer Technology Center during its 2005 grand opening. (Daily Breeze staff file photo)
SoCal Roc has endured its share of tribulations. In 2011, the Centinela Valley school district under Superintendent Jose Fernandez withdrew from SoCal Roc, expressing unhappiness with its management board. The $1.2 million Centinela contributed to SoCal Roc reverted back to the school district.
The district later fired Fernandez, who currently is on trial on embezzlement and conflict of interest charges.
California Assembly member Al Murasutchi and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson were on hand at SoCal ROC in February 2014 in Torrance to talk about their intent to raise funds to keep the occupational center open. (Daily Breeze staff file photo)
In 2014, SoCal Roc faced a funding crisis when its government funding threatened to run out. California Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi and Rep. Ted Lieu pushed in Sacramento and Washington to support extending its funding, which was restored.
As many as 9,000 students now avail themselves of free training programs at SoCal Roc. The school now offers programs that include fashion design, computer animation, video game design, cosmetology and beautician programs, health sciences careers, finance and business, in addition to more traditional vocational offerings.
SoCal Roc also has a Career Center and a jobs coordinator to help its graduates land jobs, and offers workshops on job finding skills and preparation for employment.
A student works in weldng class at SoCal ROC in Torrance in 2013. (Daily Breeze staff file photo)
Sources:
Daily Breeze files.
Los Angeles Times files.
SoCal ROC website.
Torrance Press-Herald files.
