By Monica Rodriguez
Originally published Aug. 12, 2025
Last year, after the merger of two schools on one campus, the former Hilda L. Solis Learning Academy was temporarily renamed the Boyle Heights Hilda L. Solis STEM Magnet High School. It was an awkward and confusing nine-word moniker for a campus located in East Los Angeles, not Boyle Heights.
But when classes resume this week, students will return to a renamed campus that officials hope gives the campus a clearer identity, something it lacked last year.
“It took time to explain who you are,” said Annette Del Rio, magnet and intervention coordinator for both schools.
The campus’s identity crisis began at the start of the 2024-25 school year, when the high school named after County Supervisor Hilda Solis merged with and made room for the Boyle Heights STEM Magnet High School, which had been located at Roosevelt High School.
After the merger, a committee of students, parents, faculty, and staff at the Humphreys Avenue campus began the official renaming process. LAUSD policy allows school names honoring U.S. presidents, nationally or internationally known figures, people with significant contributions to society, well-established communities, or the street where the school is located.
The committee considered three options:
- Eastside: Highlighting the school’s location and community identity.
- Ruben Salazar: A journalist and KMEX news director killed in 1970 during the Chicano Moratorium in East L.A.
- Jose Hernandez: A Mexican-American engineer and astronaut who flew aboard the Space Shuttle in 2009.
About 80% of those who voted chose Eastside, Del Rio said.
But instead of one name, the L.A. Board of Education approved similar but separate names for the two schools on the site:
- Eastside High School at Hilda L. Solis Learning Complex: Serves students in the local attendance area
- Eastside STEM Magnet at Hilda L. Solis Learning Complex: Accepts applicants from across the district
Next up: picking a mascot, school colors and new signage
Will the school eventually become known as just Eastside High? Who knows? For now, Del Rio said having a permanent name is a big step.
“We want to get our program to more students,” she said.
