It’s Palos Verdes Peninsula High; Mascot--the Panthers

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School.

That’s the name the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District school board approved Monday for the school established by the district’s cost-cutting consolidation of Miraleste, Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills high schools.

The newly christened school is expected to have about 2,950 students when it opens in the fall on the Rolling Hills High School campus.

Supt. Michael Caston proposed the name from a list that included Peninsula High School, Central High School and Pacific Coast High School. Palos Verdes High School also was among the contenders but was passed over, Caston said, because that name is already in use and the district wanted to give the school a new identity.

Although Peninsula High School had been widely expected to be the name of the new school, board members commended Caston’s choice of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, saying the new name will strongly link the school with a community that is widely known for the quality of its public school system.

The board also announced that a vote last week by about 3,000 students at the three high schools produced Palos Verdes Peninsula High’s mascot (the Panthers) and its school colors (black, silver and white).

In other action, the board approved names for the two intermediate schools that will be switching sites in the fall. Malaga Cove Intermediate School, which will move to the campus of Palos Verdes High School, will be called Palos Verdes Intermediate School. Ridgecrest Intermediate School will be named Miraleste Intermediate School when it moves to the present Miraleste High School campus.