The Columbia Basin College at 2600 N 20th Ave, Pasco, WA 99301 (in Franklin, my 11th Washington County!) is simple and attractive. My group meant in three of the building with the most interesting being the inside courtyard which had a tropical rainforest vibe going on with warm temperatures and an indoor pond. There is also a great sculpture of Martin Luther King, Jr. walking with a young, determined boy. The college’s mascot is the hawk.
Bryant Montessori, located at 717 S. Grant Ave., Tacoma, WA 98405 is one of the Tacoma Schools that might be flux. In 1998, this school received a grant to become a public school using the Montessori method. It now provides preschool to 8th grade education.
The original Bryant building was constructed in 1891 and was named after William Cullen Bryant who is remembered for writing Thanatopsis (alright I don’t actually know that poem, but here it is)
https://www.msu.edu/~cloudsar/thanatop.htm
The original building was lovely and held elementary through high school classes and also housed the school board offices and administration. High school students in the late 1800s paid tuition fees and in 1897 it was reduced from $2.50 to $1.50 per month. In any case after 70 years, the building was demolished and the “new” Bryant opened in 1962. A photograph of the original building can be found here. http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=2&o=2&n=15872&i=3774#text
The district proposal currently on the table is to close nearby Franklin Elementary School and use that building to house the Bryant program. Originally the intent had been to house the entire Bryant program at Franklin, but now it is looking more likely that the elementary portion of the Bryant program will move to Franklin and the middle school program would join Geiger Montessori which will move to the vacated Hunt Middle School. This would allow at least some of the Franklin students to at least have the option of staying in the Franklin Building if they wanted a Montessori style of education. Per the newspaper article below “A variety of programs, including Head Start and others, would move from the old Madison School site to the Bryant Elementary site”. Everybody clear?
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/10/1579446/tacoma-district-leans-toward-closing.html
Update 7/11 Bryant Montessori is staying put.
A little while back I had photographed each of the schools that Tacoma has on the list to potentially close. They included Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright, Geiger and Foss. While not written in stone, the general plan now is to close McKinley, Wainwright and Franklin. Another proposal has been made to move the middle school Montessori program now housed at Bryant and the fledgling K-5 Montessori program at Geiger to the vacant Hunt Middle School Buillding. The timing on the move is unclear, but either 2011 or 2012. Thus, the now vacant Hunt Middle School would be the new site of the K-8 Geiger Montessori Program. There is talk of building a new building for Geiger Montessori, but again the timing is uncertain. The K-5 students currently at the Bryant Building would move to Franklin. The Franklin students would have the option of attending their current school and receiving a Montessori education, or attending an alternate neighborhood school, most likely Stanley or DeLong. Of course, that tentative plan might all change!
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/10/1579446/tacoma-district-leans-toward-closing.html
It was in the early spring 2010 that the Tacoma School District decided to close H.F. Hunt Middle School because of federal rules targeting schools that perform poorly on state tests. At the time of closure, Hunt had 346 students and had been following the International Baccalaureate, or IB, model. Their mascot was the Scottie and their colors were green, white and gold. The IB program was switched to Giaudrone in the Fall of 2010.
The school building was constructed in 1958 and was named after Henry F. Hunt, a Tacoma educator for 34 years. At its height, the student population was well over 1,000 students.
Tacoma Public School has announced that it may close schools in order to save money. Foss is the high school they are considering and elementary schools with less than 300 students are also possibilities. These elementary schools are Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright and Geiger. Geiger has had a program change and has been taken off the table.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/26/1517312/school-cuts-worry-parents.html
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/01/27/1840221/tacoma-school-board-urged-to-reconsider.html
Today’s school is Foss High School at 2112 S. Tyler. Their mascot is the falcon and the school opened in 1973. Foss is the first school in Washington State and the second school west of the Rocky Mountains to offer the international baccalaureate diploma program, which began in 1982. The school is named after Henry Foss, the son of the founders of the Foss Launch and Tug Company, making it the first school named after a Tacoma native. With the exception of the School of the Arts and the Science and Math Institute, Foss is the smallest Tacoma High School. The Foss website can be found here. http://www0.tacoma.k12.wa.us/schools/hsx/foss/
A student created website names 101 Reasons Why Foss is the Boss can be found here. http://101savehfhs.webs.com/
Read more about possible school closures at : http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/26/1517312/school-cuts-worry-parents.html
Today’s school is Wainwright Elementary at 130 Alameda Avenue. Their mascot is the wildcat. The original school opened in 1911 and was called Regents Park. There was one teacher, Mrs. C.D. Bangs and she taught 1st through 3rd grades there. The one room school closed in 1914 because of lack of students. But it reopened in 1915. It almost closed in 1917, when there were 13 students. A new school opened there in 1924 and was named FIrcrest. In 1948 the school wa added on to and renamed Wainwright after a famous general in World War II. General Wainwright traveled from Texas to Fircrest to be at the school’s dedication. The school was again added on to in 1957 adn remodeling was done in 1971. In 1984 the school had a student population of 292 students and the Citizen’s Committee for School Facilities Planning recommends that Wainwright be closed.
To see the school as it appeared in 1924, see this link from the Tacoma Public Library.
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=1&n=10532&i=4838#text
Read more about possible school closures at : http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6
Today’s school is Stanley Elementary at 1712 South 17th Street. Their mascot is the cougar. The original school opened in November of 1925 and was designed to hold upwards of 480 students. It was named after George A. Stanley, a popular Tacoma Schools Administrator, who had died suddenly that same year. Additions were constructed in 1949, 1955, 1967 and 1973. In 1983 the main part of the building was declared unsafe in the event of an earthquake and it was closed and eventually demolished. The current building was constructed in 1986 and includes some decorative architectural elements from the original school (see photo below).
In 1970 Stanley became a “technologically advanced elementary [manet] school” and later it became a science magnet. It currently functions as a neighborhood school to a diverse student population.
Tacoma Public School has announced that it may close schools in order to save money. Foss is the high school they are considering and elementary schools with less than 300 students are also possibilities. These elementary schools are Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright and Geiger. Geiger has had a program change and has been taken off the table. I thought over the next week or so, I’d take photographs of the mentioned schools and use them as my new places of the day.
Read more about possible school closures at :
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6
Today’s school is Mary Lyon Elementary at 101 E. 46th St.. Their mascot is the lion. The school was constructed in 1910 and has a student population of about 270. Their official website states “The school is named after a 19th-century farm girl who was born on Feb. 28, 1897 who eventually became a teacher and established the first women’s college-Mount Holyoke-in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Mary Lyon Elementary was originally a one-room, wooden portable and has developed into a brick and stucco structure with 18 classrooms, along with classrooms in adjoining portables that were added to accommodate Lyon’s population growth.”
A photograph of the building as it appeared in 1924 can be found here:
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=4&n=6743&i=4814#text
Over the years, the building has had extensive renovation, as can be readily seen when comparing the historic photo from Tacoma Public Library to the new photograph.
Read more about possible school closures at : http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6
Today’s school is Franklin Elementary at 1402 South Lawrence Street. Their mascot is a panther. I’m sure when they constructed this school in 1998, nobody pictured it possibly closing in 2011. They educate just under 300 students.
Tacoma Public School has announced that it may close schools in order to save money. Foss is the high school they are considering and elementary schools with less than 300 students are also possibilities. These elementary schools are Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright and Geiger. Geiger has had a program change and has been taken off the table. I thought over the next week or so, I’d take photographs of the mentioned schools and use them as my new places of the day.
Read more about possible school closures at : http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6
Today’s school is Roosevelt Elementary School at 3550 E. Roosevelt Ave in Tacoma’s Eastside. Their school mascot is the Ram. Information provided by the Tacoma Public Library says the original school building was constructed in 1904 and later sold and moved to make way for the “new” building named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt. The 1921 date can be seen clearly on the two columns on either side of the entrance. The building had major renovation, in fact looks like an entirely different building with the exception of the columns. Here is a photograph of the 1921 building
http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=4&o=4&n=24285&i=4828#text
Tacoma Public School has announced that it may close schools in order to save money. Foss is the high school they are considering and elementary schools with less than 300 students are also possibilities. These elementary schools are Franklin, Lyon, Roosevelt, Stanley, McKinley, Wainwright and Geiger. Geiger has had a program change and has been taken off the table. I thought over the next week or so, I’d take photographs of the mentioned schools and use them as my new places of the day.
Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/19/1509242/foss-students-fret-over-possible.html#ixzz1Bn2OnEp6
The first is McKinley Elementary School at 3702 McKinley Avenue in Tacoma’s Eastside. Their school mascot is the Roadrunner. The original building was constructed in 1908 with additions in 1910 and 1954. It was designed by Frederick Heath, architect and named after the 25th President of the United States, William McKinley. Fredrick Heath was a busy architect! He also designed
http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2012 Oakland School
http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1961 Urban Grace
http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=1335 Titlow Lodge
http://blog.firsttries.com/?p=2370 Tacoma Public School’s CAB
McKinley School is considered a high priority to be placed on the historic register. http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1889351&more=0
To see a darling photograph of McKinley first graders from 1927 go to
Note that there are 30 desks in that classroom!
For more historic photos, check out this page from Tacoma Public Library.
