This strong female managed to defy odds from being a foster care child to becoming a sex icon which to this day she is well known for. Growing up Marilyn was not someone that stood out because in that era living in the foster system was like putting a blanket over your head and no one seemed to wonder who you were. Marylin seemingly was going through life unnoticed with the real question is did Marilyn even go to school let alone finish it?
Marilyn Monroe attended Van Nuys High School in her first year of high school. Then in the following year, she attended University High school for a short period before dropping out and getting married.
Marilyn did go to school through junior high then onto high school. When Marilyn was old enough she attended Van Nuys High School while she was also living with the Goddard’s who were family friends of her mother Gladys. Van Nuys is located in the central San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, which many would say is not the richest area at the time but was mainly for the middle class.
Soon after Monroe had to change living situations and went to live with her Aunt Ana and also had to enroll in another high school because of the different area she was living in.
In her Sophomore year, she attended University high school while living back with her Aunt Ana in 1942.
Due to her short time in high school, it’s hard to say what Van Nuys and University high school was really like while she attended, but we do know what the school’s learning was like while Monroe was there.
Insight about Van Nuys and University
Van Nuys High school always had a value of teaching what was needed for students to be out in the workplace. Currently, they are rated 1,285 in the national ratings which consider the school to be what an average high school in the urban areas is like. They always care for the students since the school first opened in 1914 which has shown over time.
As for University High school, Monroe was there for a very short period of time, but it is still considered one of the schools that she attended.
University high was founded in 1924 and watching it over time it is now one of the top high schools in the Los Angeles area for your kids to attend.
The strive for excellence shows in the way they teach and how the kids learn as they make sure it is a positive atmosphere which shows with the students that have graduated from the school.
Monroe during school
While attending school Monroe was not a standout student; she was average in most of the subjects except for writing as that is where she showed her talent.
Unfortunately during her high school time Monroe had to go back into foster care because Goddard had moved and Aunt Ana was unable to keep Monroe in the household.
This made it very hard on Monroe being back in the system and before being able to graduate she had to drop out and decided to marry, so she didn’t have to stay in foster care.
While Monroe attended University high there is very little knowledge of whether she had any friends because she was only there for a couple of months.
After doing some research people were able to find an old yearbook of a student that attended the school with Monroe and there was much knowledge learned about her.
Turns out as the link above mentions Monroe was liked and fellow students even called her “Swell”. They were also upset to hear that she was going to be dropping out of school and in turn going to be marrying and becoming a housewife.
Life As A Whole During Young Womanhood
Looking back at Monroe’s life in the beginning you would think she is just an average girl at the time that she was going through school.
Unfortunately, there was so much more that people did not know.
She put on a face for her teacher and classmates to make it seem like she was just like them but on the inside, she was struggling.
Now knowing that there were friends in her life you could hope that because of that she was able to push through all her hard times knowing those people were there for her.
The schools she attended were some of the best schools back then which definitely showed in Monroe because even though she didn’t finish school she was able to use the minimum that she had learned and her driven heart to become an actress which is what she had always wanted to be.
Van Nuys and University high school will be in the books of places that had shaped Monroe to become the woman she was and to prove anyone can do anything they put their mind to even when they are high school dropouts.