Santa Monica Junior College was established in September 1929 with 7 faculty members and 153 students in classes held on the second floor of Santa Monica High School . Attended primarily by high school students , it was originally part of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District . Despite the ensuing Wall Street Crash of 1929 and Great Depression , the school 's enrollment increased to 355 in 1930 and 600 in 1931 . In 1932 , the College moved to the vacant brick Garfield Elementary School building on Michigan Avenue . The building was declared unsafe following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and classes moved to tents and bungalows on the Garfield site , which students nicknamed Splinterville
1933 Long Beach earthquake
1933 Long Beach earthquake
Santa Monica College