By Barbara Doyle
This is part two of a multi-part series on the history of Central School, look for new installments in the weeks to come! This and future installments in this series are adapted from Barbara Doyle's book on this topic: From Then 'till Now: Schooling in Newberg, Oregon.
Newberg didn’t get a new school. The community got an
enlarged school.
The site purchased in 1889 covered a bit more than three acres
– that’s plenty of room to expand the existing school. The 1892
plan included raising the building three and a half feet providing
basement space for a furnace and a foundation for a four room
addition. But only two of those rooms were used initially.
Student population continued to rise reaching more than four
hundred in 1893. Then the economic depression labeled the
‘Panic of 1893' struck. Student attendance dropped off –
families left town and some students ignored mandatory
attendance in favor of earning some money.
Recovery was slow but by 1900 Newberg’s population had
almost doubled. That meant many more students. And parents
began to clamor for a kindergarten, a ninth grade, then a tenth
grade. The school ran out of classroom space. The School
District rented rooms in local businesses.
Beginning in 1904, Dundee School District resident W.H.
Hubbard was responsible for two major changes. His home was
closer to Newberg’s graded school – that his children attended
because he paid the tuition. Hubbard petitioned Oregon’s State
School Superintendent to change the boundary line between
the two school districts. That was unheard of. Hubbarb won; the
line was moved and twenty-five more students were added to
Newberg’s School District.
Some of those twenty-five students lived beyond the two-mile
walking limit. Newberg School District had to provide some form
of conveyance. A horse-drawn wagon, called the ‘Kid Wagon’,
was introduced. It evolved into what we all know as ‘the school
bus’, which became another financial responsibility for Newberg
School District.
Parents living in adjacent ungraded school districts pushed to
have their small districts incorporated into Newberg’s graded
school – just have the boundary lines moved. This led to a large
increase in the number of students. School board members
recognized the need to increase the number of classrooms.
They approved adding eight more rooms – four on each side of
the existing building.
The new sixteen room schoolhouse opened in October 1905;
student population quickly reached 480. This building was the
third, and last, version of the original graded school. But it still
didn’t have a name.
For the beginning of this story, read Part One.
The story continues with:
Have you enjoyed these histories? Contact us about becoming a member!
This is part two of a multi-part series on the history of Central School, look for new installments in the weeks to come! This and future installments in this series are adapted from Barbara Doyle's book on this topic: From Then 'till Now: Schooling in Newberg, Oregon.
Newberg didn’t get a new school. The community got an
enlarged school.
The site purchased in 1889 covered a bit more than three acres
– that’s plenty of room to expand the existing school. The 1892
plan included raising the building three and a half feet providing
basement space for a furnace and a foundation for a four room
addition. But only two of those rooms were used initially.
Student population continued to rise reaching more than four
hundred in 1893. Then the economic depression labeled the
‘Panic of 1893' struck. Student attendance dropped off –
families left town and some students ignored mandatory
attendance in favor of earning some money.
Recovery was slow but by 1900 Newberg’s population had
almost doubled. That meant many more students. And parents
began to clamor for a kindergarten, a ninth grade, then a tenth
grade. The school ran out of classroom space. The School
District rented rooms in local businesses.
Beginning in 1904, Dundee School District resident W.H.
Hubbard was responsible for two major changes. His home was
closer to Newberg’s graded school – that his children attended
because he paid the tuition. Hubbard petitioned Oregon’s State
School Superintendent to change the boundary line between
the two school districts. That was unheard of. Hubbarb won; the
line was moved and twenty-five more students were added to
Newberg’s School District.
Some of those twenty-five students lived beyond the two-mile
walking limit. Newberg School District had to provide some form
of conveyance. A horse-drawn wagon, called the ‘Kid Wagon’,
was introduced. It evolved into what we all know as ‘the school
bus’, which became another financial responsibility for Newberg
School District.
Parents living in adjacent ungraded school districts pushed to
have their small districts incorporated into Newberg’s graded
school – just have the boundary lines moved. This led to a large
increase in the number of students. School board members
recognized the need to increase the number of classrooms.
They approved adding eight more rooms – four on each side of
the existing building.
The new sixteen room schoolhouse opened in October 1905;
student population quickly reached 480. This building was the
third, and last, version of the original graded school. But it still
didn’t have a name.
 |
| Courtesy of the George Fox University Archives. https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/newberg_photos/91/ |
The story continues with:
Have you enjoyed these histories? Contact us about becoming a member!
Comments
Post a Comment