John F. Land

History of the Land Child Development Center

John F. Land Jr., known by his colleagues as Mr. Land, was WSD’s superintendent from 1955 to 1970, overseeing the district’s expansion and modernization. During this period, Westminster underwent a rapid growth in population and suburbanization, a massive shift from its rural origins as a farming community.

To keep up with the number of incoming pupils, Mr. Land worked together with the Westminster community, the School Board, WTA, and the PTA to ensure there were enough high-quality schools, and staff, were available to meet these new challenges. By 1970, the district had a consistent average daily attendance of about twelve thousand five hundred students and operated 23 schools in four different cities. Some examples of Land’s modern ideas included establishing dedicated middle schools, preschool programs, and an Instructional Resource Center. Programs such as GATE, Special Education, and school lunches were among the many new innovations introduced under the guidance of Mr. Land. ”

John F. Land Jr. school was the result of Mr. Land’s vision of a modern schooling facility, a collaboration between him, the board who approved the site, and Lee Kline, the district’s architect. Opened in March 1970 by Principal Joan Read, the school featured a unique layout and method of education: an enclosed campus with folding walls between the classrooms for kindergarten to sixth grade, implementing the team-teaching method. It also housed two libraries, one for primary grades and the other for upper grades, as well as a kitchen and multipurpose room all under a single roof.

Despite being hailed as the revolutionary school of the future, Land’s period as an elementary school was short lived as it was closed in 1985 due to low enrollment. The district repurposed the school for different functions, utilizing it as an Orange County Head Start and Extended School Program site in the late 1980s up to about 1992. It was reopened in 1995 as the Land Child Development Center where it initially served as a preschool and diagnostic center. Today, Mr. Land’s school continues to serve Westminster’s youth as the Land Early Learning Center, providing preschool support for children as early as 4 months old.