1926

THE BALMER AWARD

The Balmer School, as LJCDS was once known, was founded in a oneroom cottage in La Jolla by Louise Balmer in 1926. What started with only four students and three faculty members quickly grew and outgrew its various residences throughout town. When the school’s demand increased, Balmer and several parents partnered to lay the groundwork for what would be rechartered as La Jolla Country Day School. In 1961, the campus where LJCDS currently resides opened for the academic year.

After Balmer retired in 1958, her successor and the first headmaster of LJCDS, Don Leavenworth, created the Balmer Award for Citizenship to recognize a student each year for outstanding citizenship. Today, this award is given to one Middle School and one Upper School student who has contributed most to the improvement of the school community throughout the year. Balmer dedicated her career to education and encouraged students to be the best versions of themselves. The award is given to the student who best embodies her spirit and dedication to community improvement.

The award exemplifies the connection between the original Balmer School and LJCDS as we know it today. The Balmer School stood for community, individuality and preparation for life, and its students exemplified these values every day. LJCDS absorbed the original school’s ideals, and the recognition of these ideals has allowed for LJCDS’s future success.

“Correct thinking externalizes itself in worthwhile citizenship. Our school tries to gear its students’ experiences so that self-control, steady and continuous discrimination, and a satisfaction for overcoming obstacles may be a part of their equipment for life,” shared Helen Lewis, LJCDS educator and administrator, while presenting the Balmer Award for Citizenship in 1963. “My long association with the parent school and with La Jolla Country Day School makes me sure that the kind of education and guidance…has brought out, in actual living, the qualities of good citizenship.”  

—HANNAH JACOBS

BALMER AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS

MIDDLE SCHOOL

2006 « Olivia Hipkins 2007 « Rohaum Hamidi 2008 « Kaitlin Woods and Megan Woods 2009 « Hannah Fogg 2010 « John Aguilar 2011 « Hannah Shaich 2012 « Emily Gudmundson 2013 « Jacob Church 2014 « Sydney Schlafman 2015 « Sydney Gray 2016 « Juliet Welk 2017 « Lauren Miller 2018 « Daniela Castro-Martinez 2019 « Jordan Polarek 2020 « Maya Krishnan

UPPER SCHOOL

2006 « Valerie Christy 2007 « Michelle Wolfe 2008 « Anthony Markett 2009 « Samir Junnarkar 2010 « Trent Buckner and Ryan French 2011 « Chase Mertz 2012 « Adrienne Krichman 2013 « Alexander Garcia 2014 « Brandon Wachs and Emily Springfield 2015 « Naia Mitchell 2016 « Clara Valenzuela 2017 « Giana Mitchell 2018 « Kelsey Maloney 2019 « Sincere’ Blackmon 2020 « Gabriella Grasso