Neighorhood institution
Jefferson has been educating South Hill children for 100 years
Reading, writing and arithmetic still form the basis of education at Jefferson Elementary, but students attending the school a century ago would be hard-pressed to figure out what to do with computers, calculators and a climbing wall.
Even so, the same building constructed at 37th Avenue and Grand Boulevard in 1908 continues to serve students today, albeit with an addition and several detached classrooms out back.
Jefferson students, faculty, parents and neighbors past and present will celebrate the public school’s 100th birthday today with cake and discussions of the good old days.
“We are having an open house all day,” said Jefferson Elementary Principal Mary-Dean Wooley. “It’s just a small, little neighborhood school celebration.”
Perhaps not so small.
About 520 students are enrolled in the school today, and thousands have been instructed there over the years.
Bert Evans said he remembers going to woodshop, Thursday church school and on field trips to Hangman Creek and Manito Park.
Evans graduated from eighth grade at Jefferson in 1952.
“The school was really, really wonderful,” said Ed Huneke who attended from 1945 to 1954. “I consider myself very, very lucky.
Huneke remembers the new addition being built while he was there, adding a top-notch library.
Jefferson Elementary started out as a kindergarten through eighth grade school in 1908. The main addition was built for about $280,000 40 years later. Portable classrooms have also been on the grounds for about 50 years, Wooley said.
Grades 7 and 8 moved to Sacajawea Middle School when it was built.
It’s not certain how much longer the school will remain standing.
Jefferson Elementary is one of the schools being considered for rebuilding under a proposed new Spokane Public Schools bond issue.
The original building isn’t accessible to those with disabilities because of numerous stairs. Wooley said previous attempts to install ramps were unsuccessful because there isn’t enough room for them.
The location is also far from ideal.
Jefferson Elementary is on a busy intersection with a major supermarket across the street.
Parents unsuccessfully protested the building of that Albertsons store back in the late 1980s. The company did give the school 500 bright red shirts with “I’m a Jefferson kid. Drive slow,” printed on them.
Over the years students have been Jaguars, Jets and now the Patriots in honor of the school’s namesake, President Thomas Jefferson.
Present-day students have been preparing for the centennial party by constructing a timeline of events during the past 100 years, focusing on politics, popular culture and the economy. They will hang 100 red-white-and-blue pinwheels on the Grand Boulevard and 37th Avenue fences.
It’s not so much the building, but the instruction, Huneke said. “I think we were given a good strong, solid foundation in life.”