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History
In 1913 Highland Park
started in a one-room portable as an approved annex of South Park
School. There were 16 students in
grades 1-6. By 1919 the school had
increased to eight one-room portables with a population of 290 students. With a steadily increasing student population,
the need for a “real” school was obvious and district architect Floyd Naramore
was asked to begin the design for a new school. The new building was completed in 1921, and 7th and
8th grades were added. Because of community growth,
the student population during the ‘40’s and ‘50’s kept increasing and in 1952
the 7th and 8th graders were transferred to the
newly-built Denny Junior High School.
As a K-6 school the enrollment continued to rise. By the early 1960’s Highland Park had
become the largest K-6 grade school in the entire state and had to use 19
portables to house 45% of the school’s population. In 1963 the school hit its peak enrollment of 1,182 pupils. By the late 1980’s it was
becoming evident that the original Highland Park school building was showing
it’s age. With the addition of
computers, electric typewriters, copiers, laminators, etc. the electrical
wiring was no longer adequate. The
60+-year-old heating and ventilation systems became outdated, and lack of
space became an issue for all the extra support staff (counselors,
therapists, etc.) Fortunately voters
approved an initiative in 1994 that allowed the School District to proceed
with a program to rebuild/remodel 13 schools. Highland Park was one of the 13. For a year and a half
Highland Park was housed at the old E.C. Hughes building while the old school
was demolished and a new 71,200-square-foot building was erected. School resumed in the new building in the
fall of 1999. History buffs will enjoy seeing the historic showcase
(with doors made from two windows of the old school). It houses memorabilia saved from the old
school and sits beneath a large picture of the original building. For an in-depth look at the history of Highland Park
and its community from the beginning until 1997, read Margaret Young’s Treasure On A Hilltop. It is a PDF file and is
downloadable. For a visual tour that was put together when our new
school was being built and opened in 1999, click
here. If you attended Highland Park, send your reminiscences to tkdaniels@seattleschools.org with the word Reminiscences written in the subject line. We will post them here. |
