Cecil B. DeMille

History of Cecil B. DeMille School

            By the mid-1950s, Westminster and Midway City began to develop and experienced an influx of families. With only a handful of schools to support the developing communities, the Westminster School District needed to construct more schools to support the rising population. During this time, the land where DeMille School would be built was owned by Mrs. Cleo and her son, Clyde Hazard.

The school site remained unnamed until later in 1957 when it was officially named Cecil B. DeMille Elementary School. This was the result of the involvement of the famous film director. Although the exact circumstances in which DeMille became involved are unclear, an article in the Santa Ana Register says that in February 1957, he spoke at a conference that WSD trustee Ray Schmitt had attended. Five months later, the headline of the June 28, 1957 issue of The Westminster Hearld announced that the new campus was named by the School Board “Cecil B. DeMille School”. Lloyd Thomas, the editor of the same newspaper also took a series of photos of DeMille with WSD Trustees and Administrators (photos taken between late 1957 to 1958 at a banquet). The trouble acquiring a section of Van Buren Street was also resolved, allowing construction to commence, with Assistant Superintendent Byram Bates commenting that it will use “…clean, appealing lines new in school building, already proven in commercial construction.”

The school opened shortly after the 1958–59 winter recess, on January 5, 1959. Virginia K. Boos, previously of Barber City School, served as its inaugural principal. Due to incomplete construction, only half of the students and staff occupied the new facility initially, with the remainder temporarily attending Midway City School. The campus dedication, originally intended for DeMille’s attendance in April 1959, became a posthumous tribute following his passing on January 21, 1959. His daughter attended the ceremony, which featured several of his associates and actor Charlton Heston.

Demographic changes following the fall of Saigon in 1975 initially had little immediate impact on the school’s enrollment. However, over the next quarter-century, the emergence of Little Saigon within sections of Midway City and Westminster reshaped the community. In 2015, DeMille Elementary School became a Vietnamese Dual Language Immersion subsequently adopting the name Mỹ Việt Language Academy and changing its mascot from the Dolphins to the Dragons to reflect its cultural focus.