School History

 

We opened in 1964.  Hisamatsu Tamura Elementary School is named after one of the many Fountain Valley pioneer families.  Hisamatsu Tamura was an Issei, one of the many first-generation Japanese to immigrate to the United States.  He came to the United States at the age of 22 and lived in Seattle, Washington before moving to Southern California.

 

In 1922, he settled in Talbert (present-day Fountain Valley) where he raised various vegetable crops.  He donated much of his time and money to the school system.  He gave a stove and sewing machines to the girl's homemaking class and woodworking equipment to the boy's workshop.  He was also a part of purchasing an old Standard Oil wooden building to serve as the school, and an old house to serve as the teacher's residence.

 

During that era, both first and second-generation Japanese immigrants understood that they would make a commitment for the next generation in the spirit of "lodomo no tame ni" or, "for the sake of the children".