Mesrobian Amenian school celebrated 60 years with a new gym

· November 20, 2024

Sgvtribune.com

They found their place on Beverly Road in Pico Rivera, five Armenians who arrived in the U.S. in the 1960s, all of them survivors or descendants of survivors of the genocide that began in Turkey in 1915.

These first families built the Armenian Mesrobian School, which celebrated its 60th anniversary Monday by dedicating a new $3 million gym. A performing arts center opens in three months.

More than 400 people attended the first game to be played at the gym, pitting the boys’ varsity basketball team against Montebello High. The Mesrobian Bulldogs won 71-52.

The new gym, and performing arts complex, is the beginning of a revival and not just an expansion for the school, which serves families in Pasadena, San Gabriel Valley and Orange County.

“It’s been a dream for us to have this happen,” said Chris Guldjian, president of the school’s board of trustees. “For generations to come, our children will have somewhere to play that’s safe and warm. I hope we make the city proud.”

Mesrobian serves about 300 students in preschool through 12th grade. It has ties with the Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in Montebello and is fully accredited with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Its curriculum includes Armenian religion and culture.

Murad Minasian of Montebello attended the school from preschool through 12th grade and today, his three sons are students there too.

“There’s a true sense of family when you’re at the school,” he said. “It’s unique experience. The one thing you take away is the bond you build with others there. It’s something you can’t replace with anything else you experience in life. Your friends truly become family.”

One of the school’s founders, Mkrtich Mosikian, was an orphan from Germany displaced after World War II, Minasian said. The preschool is named in honor of his daughter Goharik and her husband Ron. His grandson Mike Gabriel coached the winning team Monday.

“(The founders) built this school to preserve their identity and to have a place to congregate,” Minasian said, adding that families connected to the school were instrumental in getting the Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument in Montebello built in 1968.

Plans for the gym and performing arts center broke ground in 2022. Guldjian commended the staff from every department they worked with since, saying “they made what we thought impossible, easier.” The new space will also be used for community activities such as music and science fairs as well as religious activities associated with the Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Cathedral.

The packed gym was proof the school community remains rooted in what its founders believed in: faith, tradition, innovation and excellence.

“It’s all for the kids,” Guldjian said. “It really took everyone to get this thing done. Seeing the kids just being so excited, that joy means the world.”