Narrative History

Historical Note:

First and foremost, we want to make it clear that there is never a way to tell "the" history of anything. This website is simply a first attempt to tell "a" history of Buena High School, and we hope that future generations may add to this website & digital archive in order to continue adding more sources, voices, and complexity in the telling of the history of our school. If you would like to add anything to our digital archive, please email kevin.downey@venturausd.org, and/or fill out this Google Form: https://forms.gle/p3rTAumAs32kY5Pv8.

Aerial view of Buena High School c. 1961

A Brief History

As the population was growing on the east end of Ventura, CA, the Ventura High School Trustees recognized that a new high school and middle school would need to be built. Ventura High School #2 (later named Buena High School) was designed by architect Roy Wilson of Santa Paula, built by contractor Ralph T. Viola of Oxnard, and officially opened for the 1961-1962 school year for $4 million ("Costs Plague School Trustees"). "It took Santa Paula architect firm of Wilson, Stroh and Wilson three years and 400 sheets of drawings to properly clothe the custom-made building ... [with] 72 birch-paneled classrooms in a 46-acre campus ... designed for 2,000 students" ("Buena Offers Latest in Design"). A separate contract was later approved for building the school's auditorium after the school opened, and Balboa Junior High School was set to open the following school year in 1962-1963 ("Ventura H.S. Board").

Buena's first student body consisted of 900 students from Ventura's eastern area, including 125 Ventura High School Seniors who chose to switch to the new school (Now It's Buena and Ventura H.S.). The school's first principal, Arleigh McConnell, was strongly "in favor of letting students handle all the problems they can through student government," and had no issues with having an open campus, saying that "He has seen open and closed campuses work favorably and ... both plans have advantages and disadvantages ("Principal McConnell Sets Buena Policies").

Prospective students voted on the school's mascot and school colors, with the Bulldog and Black, White, and Turquoise winning the initial vote; however, while the school's Steering Committee did confirm the vote, Turquoise was not available at the time for athletic apparel, so the school ended up going with Columbia blue ("News Briefs" 3). The first year had students from grades 9-12, but only for that year. In 1962-1963, the senior high school was only grades 10-12 until the mid-1980s, when the school returned to a 4-year school in order to offer more programs, housing up to 2,300 students at that time ("Buena High School 1982-83 Time Capsule Video").

Major additions to the campus include the finishing of the auditorium and the A-Wing soon after the school opened, the Buena welcome sign in front of the Administration Building in 1988, the original Marquee (later replaced with the current digital marquee), various portable rooms, an expanded library, an enlarged pool, and eventually, the Buena Stadium, which opened in 2004. Most recently, Buena has updated the mural in the quad (or student forum as it used to be called), along with new blue umbrellas for shade, and banners on the light poles in the parking lot. Many of the original classrooms have been repurposed for the times.