Cesar Chavez Junior High School has a new name! The CUSD Board of Trustees voted unanimously at its June 18 meeting to rename the school Louie Arrollo Junior High School in honor of Louie Arrollo. The longtime Ceres resident was the city’s first Hispanic police officer before becoming a high school administrator and serving two terms as mayor. To learn more, please see Mr. Arrollo’s bio below.
The school colors, logo, and mascot will remain unchanged. School and district staff will work together over the coming months to update signage, materials, and other items with the new name.
We extend our sincere thanks to our CUSD community for engaging in the renaming process – from submitting name recommendations and serving on an ad hoc committee to sharing perspectives at public Board meetings. This decision reflects the meaningful participation of students, staff, families, and residents who took part in a community-led process.
We look forward to beginning a new chapter with a name that honors a legacy of service and pride in the Ceres community.
Louie Arrollo: A Lifetime of Service to Ceres
Louie Arrollo’s decades of service to Ceres have touched nearly every aspect of the community – from public safety to educational leadership and civic service.
Arrollo moved with his family to Ceres in 1957. He attended Ceres High School, then joined the U.S. Army, serving as a military police officer before returning home to work loading boxes of harvested peaches onto trailers. In 1963, he became the Ceres Police Department’s first Hispanic officer, rising through the ranks over the next 21 years to retire as police commander in 1984.
Driven by a desire to support local youth, Arrollo next taught law enforcement courses at Ceres High School, earned his master’s degree, and served more than a decade as an administrator in charge of discipline. He retired from education in 2001.
Parallel to his work in schools, Arrollo was elected to the Ceres City Council in 1985 and later served two terms as mayor. He was the driving force behind development of the Smyrna Park skate park, Concerts in the Park, and adoption of the city motto, “Together We Achieve.”
In 2026, the Ceres Chamber of Commerce recognized Arrollo with its Citizen of the Year/Lifetime Achievement Award for decades of service that helped shape the Ceres community. Reflecting on the city he calls “one of the greatest in the Central Valley,” Arrollo said, “Ceres has been good to me, mainly because of the people who live in Ceres.”