School: Greenwood H.S. – A Short History (1893 – 1960)
Transcriber:
stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Andrews, Peterson, Soule, Miller, Varney, Thompson, Dodge, Hartson,
Gullord, Bishop, Baird, Armstrong, Steiger, Duel
----Source: Greenwood Gleaner (Greenwood, Clark Co., Wis.) 10 Nov 1960
In the past sixty-seven years over 1,700 people have graduated from Greenwood
High School. In 1897 one person received a diploma; in 1960 a graduating class
of sixty-three, the largest in the school's history, became alumni of the school
that is proud of the many that have taken respected and responsible place in
society.
In 1881 a building designed for a grad school was erected on the present school
site. The total cost of the first school was $7,000. The school board was made
up of Elias Peterson, director; W.F. Armstrong, secretary; and Steve Andrews,
treasurer. One teacher was employed and the total cost of operating the school
was $650. Part of this original school is being used as the Gleaner building.
As the population grew, more teachers were added, improvements made, and finally
an addition was put on the building. In 1893 a high school department was
organized un the principalship of Frank Soule. Previous to this time the school
had an upper department which, according to old records, offered such courses as
U.S. history, physical geography, grammar, bookkeeping and algebra. High school
courses listed for the 1893-94 school year were English literature, physiology,
arithmetic, grammar, algebra and physical geography. Later the course of study
included was expanded to include physics, geometry, botany, rhetoric reading,
general history, spelling and political economy. Lynn Miller completed the high
school course in 1897 and Eva Miller, Mabel Varney and Margie Thompson in 1898.
B.O. Dodge was the principal at this time.
The old high school building, which was occupied by high school and grades until
this fall, and which is now used exclusively for grade school purposes, was
started in 1913 and opened to the public on March 16, 1914. Teacher and pupils
moved in the following week. O.J. Thompson was the first principal in this
building. The school board consisted of H.H. Hartson, director; P.W. Gullord,
clerk; and G..W. Bishop, treasurer. The "new high school" cost $25,600. In
addition to the usual recitation, assembly, cloak and office rooms, the school
boasted a complete gymnasium, which was in the basement area now occupied by the
home economics department. The high school enrollment at this time was 75. In
1920 the high school staff consisted of five teachers and a principal.
A magnificent wooden flagpole – for some time the tallest in the state – on the
northeast corner of the school grounds. The pole was a gift of Lynn Miller, one
of the first high school students. The pole, which was originally 150 feet long,
was shipped from the state of Washington. If was necessary to remove the pole in
1955, after it had been resent and repaired many time, and was no longer safe.
Increasing high school enrollments and the addition of more courses made it
necessary to find additional classrooms by remodeling and reducing the size of
original classrooms. The first high school addition, which consisted of the
present gymnasium and agriculture shop and library, was stated December 5, 1938
and completed August 18, 1939. The total cost of this project, which was built
with government assistance, was $56,484. Members of the school board were H.R.
Baird, direction; D.A. Armstrong, clerk, and William Steiger, treasurer. O.P.
Duel was the principal.
Since that time, the building underwent a number of changes in an attempt to
adjust to ever increasing enrollments and changing needs. The old study hall was
partitioned off to provide additional classrooms in 1951, as was the old
gymnasium earlier.
As the high school enrollment continued to grow and the education opportunities
offered to young people were expanded, it became increasingly evident that
additional and more modern facilities would be required. As Greenwood High
School served an area of approximately 150 square miles and about 75 percent of
its students were living outside the former Greenwood district, it was necessary
to enlist the help of the area served to form a district with a tax base
sufficiently large to provide the type of facilities the young people of the
area should have. The Greenwood Board of Education held many meetings over a
period of several years with area school boards, twon officials and people of
the area districts to talk over the problems the high school and tow study the
formation of a single, large integrated district.
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