• School History

    This school was developed from the original Sedgwick County School District 128, commonly known as Pleasant Valley School.  In 1953, as a result of the growth of the elementary school at 29th and Athenian, school patrons believed it would be to the educational advantage of their children to have their own junior high school.  At this time, some ninth graders went to John Marshall Junior High and then on to Wichita North High School; others went to Valley Center.

    The district was blessed with a fairly good valuation for tax purposes, and the school board began to plan for the new building.  The architectual firm of Thomas, Harris and Calvin were employed.  Their preliminary estimate of the cost of the building was $600,000. A bond election was held December 1, 1953, and the bond issue was carried by an overwhelming majority.

    The building was ready for occupancy with the fall term in 1955.  In the fall of 1956, as the result of continued growth in the area, an additional bond issue of $145,000 was voted to add eight more rooms.  These rooms were completed and ready for occupancy by Thanksgiving in the fall of 1956.  The architects on the building have been Thomas, Harris and various others who have been associated with this firm since 1953.

    From 1956 until 1964, the building housed grades five through nine for District 128.  The junior high enrollment (grades seven through nine) averaged 300 to 350 during this period.

    The school district was annexed to Wichita in 1962, but the school did not become a part of the Wichita School System until July 1, 1964. In the fall of 1964, the seventh, eighth and ninth grade pupils from Arkansas Avenue School were assigned to this building, and the fifth and sixth grades were housed in the original Pleasant Valley South building.

    During the summer of 1966, six additional classrooms were added to the building at a cost of about $375,000. Junior high school pupils from other rural schools in the northwest suburban area of Wichita, which included Bridgeport, Riverview and North Riverside, were assigned to Pleasant Valley Junior High School in the fall of 1966.

    In 1973, the capacity of the building was again increased with the construction of an addition that included 18 rooms and an auditorium. The cost of this construction was $1,600,000.

    Enrollment for the first year of Pleasant Valley Junior High i

    n 1955 was 168 with 11 teachers. B.E. Terrell served either as a combination superintendent of the Pleasant Valley Schools and junior high school principal, or as junior high principal from the time the building was first planned in 1953 until his retirement in 1974.

    In the fall of 1988, all ninth graders were moved to high schools leaving seventh and eighth graders. In the fall of 1989, all junior high schools became middle schools (6-8). Enrollment currently averages around 950.

    From A History of Wichita Public School Buildings, c. 1997