 Sherman Daily Democrat 1939 FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL HERE CAME IN 1873 Modern Plant and Best Instruction Now Offered in Institution First High School Was Operated in 1893 Eleventh Grade Added in 1917 and Full Affliation Gained In the city which has been called "The Athens of Texas" by reason of its civic heritage in privately operated schools, the public school system has ever borne its head high. The Sherman schools have gone from the log schoolhouse days, where only the "Three R's" were taught, and when the eighth grade education was considered the limit for ordinary persons, to its present-day high standard of education. Today there are five white was schools and a white high school offering a fully accredited course of 45 units. There is also a negro school combining elementary and high school grades in one building. All are housed in modern, fire-proof structures. Where there were four teachers and one principal in the high school of 1885, there are now 34 teachers in the high school, 59 in the elementary schools and 12 in the negro schools. The present-day school budget contemplates the expenditure of about $170,000 each year for teaching services, purchase of equipment and maintenance of the school plant. FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL Public schools were first established in Sherman in 1873, after a bitter fight. State revenues would not have been sufficient for their maintenance, but finally it was voted to support them by local taxation. The schools were located in various frame buildings until 1884. One of the first public schools was the Magnolia School, located at the southwest corner of the Kimball Diamond Mill property, where the old mill had been built by J.F. Stinnett, father of the late H.G. Stinnett. The mill was burned in 1886. In 1884 the Franklin school, a two-story brick building, was erected at Walnut and Mulberry, where now is located the Steakley Chevrolet company office. It was torn down in the spring of 1925. The second public school, the Washington school, was built in 1885, and included 12 rooms in its two stories. It was first occupied in 1886, and only the first floor and one classroom on the second floor where then used. The first six grades and an eighth grade class were taught there, and the first six grades and the only seventh grade class were taught at the Franklin school. SEPARATE HIGH SCHOOL Not until 1893 did the need for higher education beyond the eighth grade become apparent, and two more grades were added and called the high school. A separate principal for the high school, H.W. South, was employed, and the school was held on the second floor of the Washington building. In 1895 the high school was moved to the Franklin building. The first high school building was built in 1898 and occupied in 1899, on a lot at Travis and Mulberry where the Houston Hilburn Motor company is now located. This building was destroyed by fire in 1907, and rebuilt in 1908. Classes in the meantime were conducted in the Birge building at Houston and Walnut. Then they were moved back to the Washington school, to which a third floor had been added. The bricks in the Washington school were made from clay from an old quarry on Rusk street. When the school was razed in 1929 the bricks were put back in the same quarry from which they were taken, having served nearly 40 years in their educational niche. ELEVENTH IN 1917 When in 1917 an eleventh grade was added, the increase of departments and pupils made too heavy a demand on the capacity of the school, and the old residence of O.T. Lyon at Crockett and King was purchased. The modern brick structure was erected during the spring of 1918, and the old high school continued in use as a junior high school. Since contribution of the high school, the pressure of increased enrollment has forced the building of a wing on the west side in 1922, and other improvements. In 1936 the auditorium was rebuilt and enlarged, and space for a new shop work department was added. Grounds have been enlarged by purchase of the residence on the south, which was razed to make room for a playground and practice field, and the city closed the alley there to make school property continuous. Ten years ago the junior high grades were absorbed into the various elementary schools and the high school, the building was sold and torn down to make room for the filling station now on the site. ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS The old Jefferson building erected in 1893 in the 900 block East Chaffin was used until 1931, when it was razed and the present modern structure at the southeast corner of Brockett and Lee. This location placed it in a more desirable location with respect to the boundaries that school district. The old Jefferson structure was in three dis-jointed sections. The first wing addition to the original structure was on the west, completed in 1902. Another similar wing was added a few years later on the east. The school was practically antiquated when it was abandoned and the site told in 1931, Miss Evorie Dillingham is principal. The Washington school has had only four principals in it long period of use. Mrs. A.K. Collins was the first. She was succeeded by H.W. South, who soon after became high school principal and yielded to Miss Matie Pullen, who served many years. Rochelle Canon has served as principal the last three years. The old Washington school was torn down in 1928 and replaced by the present structure.  REMODELING PROGRAM The David Crockett school was built in 1912, and the original structure is still used. Mrs. L.P. Miller is principal. An addition was erected in 1934. The school is located on East Odneal between Willow and Maxey. The David Bryant school was erected in 1920, and an addition erected in recent years. Miss Willie Greene is principal there now. The Lee school building at 912 North Walnut was erected in 1913. Mrs. C.C. Binkley is principal. It was used for several years to house the superintendent's office because of crowded conditions at the high school. Sherman negroes attend the Fred Douglas school at 505 East College, where elementary and high school courses are offered. The entire school plant is nearing the close of a refurbishing. Nearly $40,000 has been spent on the buildings and grounds in the last year under this project, which included much landscaping, painting, reflooring, new plumbing and modernization in many ways. IMPROVED CURRICULUM The high school building benefited greatly from this project, and several departments were enabled to expand because of improvements wrought. Improvements in the curriculum offered has been no less spectacular. Vocational agriculture and home economics, also called the science of living, are two of the most recent additions, and draw some of the largest enrollments. The Sherman schools are fully accredited under the standards of the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges. Growth in average daily attendance in the face of a decline in the scholastic populartion is a feature of the Sherman school. Although the number of schildren of school age is lessening, average daily attendance has increased sharply. Out of about 3,500 children of school age, enrollment totals about 3,350 and average daily attendance is only slightly less. GRADUATING CLASSES The size of the graduating class is the best index of the size of the schools. This year there were 182 graduates, the largest class to be graduated in the history of the school. The class of 1907 had 42 graduates. Osgood Campbell of Sherman was valedictorian and Spearman Webb, was salutatorian. By 1912 the graduating class has decreased to 32 pupils, but many had been graduated at midyear. From 1916 to 1926, the graduating class increased from 70 to 129 pupils. Superintendents of the Sherman schools have been a Professor Manlove, Clark Smith, Nat Somerville, Leonard Lemmon, P.W. Horn, B.W. Glasgow, Jay C. Pyle, L.T. Cook and the incumbent...L. Speer. Byron Davis is principal of the high school. Sherman High School History Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |