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Allison Traditional Magnet Middle School
James A. Allison was active in community affairs from the time of his arrival in Wichita in 1886 until his death in 1916. His home was located on the corner of Martinson and University near the site of the school which was named in his honor. Mr. Allison was an educator and a civic and religious leader. He was instrumental in the founding of Friends University through the sale of the former Garfield University to James A. Davis who gave the property to the Society of Friends. Mr. Allison served on the Board of Education from 1891 to 1893 and was a member of the Board of Trustees of Southwestern University from 1894 to 1913.
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Anderson Elementary School
The new building was named after James E. Anderson, a prominent Wichita black educator who had served several years as an administrator for the district. Shortly after his retirement, he was killed in an automobile accident in 1978.
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Beech Elementary School
After considering all recommendations, the Board of Education decided the newest elementary school should bear the name of the local pioneer in the field of aviation, Walter H. Beech. Mr. Beech stands in the front ranks of air pioneers. He not only foresaw the role of the airplane far into the future, but translated that foresight into reality, producing a line of outstanding aircraft and establishing the aircraft company which later became Raytheon, and then Hawker Beechcraft, and continues to be one of Wichita's major industries.
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Benton Elementary School
The name was selected in honor of Miss Mary Benton who was the first teacher at Peterson in 1875. She began teaching December 13, 1875 and taught for three months at a salary of $75.
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Black Traditional Magnet Elementary School
Mrs. Jessie Hunter Black was credited with being the first public school teacher in Wichita, having taught several years as Miss Jessie Hunter. According to Sondra Van Meter’s “A History of the Wichita Public Schools,” Miss Hunter first taught the summer session in 1871, and the Wichita public school opened on December12, 1870 and its teacher was W. H. Zellers.
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Brooks Center for STEM and the Arts Magnet Middle School
The building was named for L.W. Brooks, who was a principal of three high schools in Wichita. He was the first director of secondary education and also was an acting superintendent of schools. In 1944, he was elected the State Superintendent of Public Instruction
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Bostic Traditional Magnet Elementary
The Leicle Bostic Traditional Elementary Magnet School was housed in the former Kistler Elementary School which was originally a part of Common School District No. 184, Kechi. The district came into the Wichita Public School System by attachment in July of 1963. On June 20, 1994, the building was renamed Leicle Bostic Traditional Magnet Elementary School after a former USD 259 principal.
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Bryant Opportunity Academy
Bryant School was named for John B. Bryant, a well-known Wichita lawyer who served many years as a member of the Wichita Board of Education.
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Buckner Performing Arts Magnet Elementary School
Buckner was named to honor Mary Wadsworth Buckner who came to Wichita in 1884 as the bride of Judge William T. Buckner. She fought against child abuse and for the rights of women. She helped found the Hypatia Club and later was chosen president of the Wichita Federation of Women's Clubs. She found time to collect funds to help build St. John's Episcopal Church and became the first woman candidate for the Board of Education. She served on the Board until 1916 when her daughter, Sue Buckner, who graduated from Fairmount in 1913, applied to teach in the Wichita Public Schools.
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Caldwell Elementary School
Caldwell School was named in honor of Mr. Charles Stuart Caldwell, a member of the Wichita Board of Education from 1874 to 1877 and secretary of the Board from 1896-1910.
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Cessna Elementary School
Enterprise South was renamed Clyde V. Cessna in 1964 in honor of the man who pioneered the manufacture of aircraft in Wichita.
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Chester I Lewis Alternative School
The school was named after prominent black Wichita citizen Chester I. Lewis, attorney and civil rights activist.
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Clark Elementary School
The school was named for Miss Jessie L. Clark, a pioneer in the Wichita Public School system. From 1887 to 1891, Miss Clark was the only traveling music teacher in the city, and in 1891, she became the first music supervisor for the school system. She held the position until her retirement in 1923.
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Cleaveland Traditional Magnet Elementary School
The school was named in honor of Cynthia W. Cleaveland, who came to Wichita in 1886 at the age of 33, and was a teacher in the Wichita system for more than 40 years. In 1941, Miss Cleaveland was president of the Wichita City Teachers Association which she helped organize. She also had a part in organizing the Wichita Music Club.
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Cloud Elementary School
Cloud Elementary was named in honor of the great Indian educator, Henry Roe Cloud. A full-blooded Winnebago Indian, Dr. Cloud was born in a wigwam in the area that is now Nebraska. In 1915, he founded the American Indian Institute at 4000 East 21st Street in Wichita. He was graduated with honors from Yale University with three degrees including the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1931, he was assigned by the Department of Interior to the position of Field Representative of Indian Affairs over the entire United States. No personality more dramatically represents the true purpose of the American Educational system than Dr. Cloud.
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Coleman Middle School
W.C. Coleman, for whom the school was named, was an educator and industrialist. He built a successful life on a love of knowledge, discipline of hard work and principles of a strong faith in God.
Reared on a Kansas homestead farm, W.C.'s "learning" began in a country school. His education was fraught with hardships: less than good eyesight, necessary interruptions to work on the family farm after his father's death, and the need to earn money in order to go to college. Despite these difficulties, he completed teacher's college, one year of university graduate study, and two and one-half years of law school before the turn of the century. W.C.'s first ambition was to be a teacher. His career as an educator encompassed two years as a country school master, one year as a university teacher, and two as a school principal.
Mr. Coleman's respect for his associates in the Coleman Company and for the citizens of Wichita brought out the best traits of everyone who worked with him. He was dedicated to all worthwhile public enterprises in the Wichita community. -
Colvin Elementary School
The Colvin Elementary School was named for the late C. Fred Colvin who was employed as high school principal of Planeview in 1943 and later became assistant superintendent and then superintendent of Planeview schools. In 1953, before the Planeview school district was annexed to the Wichita School System, Mr. Colvin became Assistant Superintendent in charge of Special Services for the Wichita School System. Four years later he was named Assistant Superintendent in charge of the Personnel Services Division, the position he maintained until his death in 1966.
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Curtis Middle School
Curtis Junior High school was named for Charles Curtis, Kansan who became Vice President of the United States. Curtis was born in 1860 in Topeka, Kans. His father was a French settler and his mother a Kaw Indian princess. He served as Vice President under Herbert Hoover.
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Dodge Literacy Magnet Elementary School
Almon Dodge was a Wichita pioneer who homesteaded in west Wichita. His home was on the site of the hold Wichita Hospital. He was the first justice of the peace of Delano Township. Mr. Dodge was the construction superintendent of the first bridge across the river south of the city.
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Gammon Elementary School
Named after Delore O. Gammon, Miss Gammon became assistant superintendent in charge of elementary education in 1953, and in 1958 Miss Gammon became director of elementary curriculum. She retired in 1966. She had attained the highest position any woman ever had in the Wichita Public Schools system at that time. She died September 30, 1981.
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Gardiner Elementary School
In March 1925, the name was officially changed to the Laura V. Gardiner Elementary School in honor of Laura Gardiner, one of the first women to be elected to the Board of Education of the Wichita Public Schools. She served from 1913-1920.
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Gordon Parks Academy STEM Leaders in Applied and Media Arts
The school was named for Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks who was an American photographer, musician, writer and film director. Mr. Parks was born on November 30, 1912 and raised in Fort Scott, Kansas. Gordon Parks was one of the seminal figures of twentieth century photography. A humanitarian with a deep commitment to social justice, he left behind a body of work that documents many of the most important aspects of American culture from the early 1940s up until his death in 2006, with a focus on race relations, poverty, Civil Rights, and urban life. In addition, Parks was also a celebrated composer, author, and filmmaker who interacted with many of the most prominent people of his era—from politicians and artists to celebrities and athletes. He passed away in 2006 in New York City.
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Greiffenstein-Wells Middle School
Greiffenstein-Wells combines the naming of two schools. The first is named after William Greiffenstein, a native of Ober-Ramstadt, Germany, who was one of the most prominent and influential founders of early Wichita. He arrived in Wichita in 1869 at the invitation of James R. Mead, opened an Indian trading post, and helped in founding the new town. In 1870 he plotted 80 acres of land in Wichita which was the first plotted land on record in this city. Greiffenstein worked very hard to make Wichita grow. He did so much for the town that he is generally referred to as the "Father of Wichita." Greiffenstein is also well known as one of the planners responsible for the 81-foot width of Douglas Avenue. It is alleged by some historians to be the result of Greiffenstein's belief that the street should be wide enough for use as a drill field. He was the fourth mayor of Wichita and served in this capacity for eight years. In 1877-78 he represented this district in the State Legislature.
The second is in honor of Bert C. Wells who was City Manager of Wichita from 1927 until 1939. Mr. Wells was born in Sheridan, Indiana on July 19, 1880, of Quaker heritage and came to Wichita as a young man to attend Friends University. After graduating from Friends in 1903, he received a scholarship to attend Haverford College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1904. He married Sara Shoemaker the same year and taught in Oakwood School in New York and Corinth Academy in Virginia before returning to Wichita where he taught in the high school two years. Mr. Wells held public positions in several Kansas cities before becoming City Manager of Wichita. He was known by friends as ever the same - a quiet, self-contained, industrious and honest man. -
Griffith Elementary School
Colonel Bruce Griffith, in whose memory the school was named, came to Wichita from New York in 1893, as minister of Brown Memorial Reform Church. He left the ministry in 1910 to enter the insurance field. He joined the National Guard and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in World War I. In 1930, he was appointed by President Herbert Hoover as Postmaster of Wichita, a position he held for a number of years. Because of his interest in education, he was elected to the Wichita Board of Education and served for 20 years. He died in 1956 at the age of 88 years.
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Hadley Middle School
The W.S. Hadley Middle School was named for a man who lived on the West Side for many years. William Spencer Hadley was born in Richland, Iowa, on January 18, 1866. He moved to Beloit in 1876 and attended public schools in Beloit. After finishing his education, he became a school teacher for several years.
In 1901, Mr. Hadley moved to Wichita and was in the banking business in Wichita most of his life. For many years he was president of a bank on the west side and was active in the West Wichita Commercial League. He served as a member of the Board of City Commissioners and was, at one time, president of the Board of Trustees of Friends University. He maintained a very active interest in Friends University, in the University Friends Church, and in the national affairs of Friends churches. -
Hyde Leadership and International Exploration Magnet Elementary School
The school was named for Mr. A.A. Hyde of Mentholatum fame, a Wichita well-known for his philanthropic work and deep interest in the youth of the city. He reserved space on his large lawn for baseball diamonds so every boy in the neighborhood would always have a place where he could play ball. He provided many underprivileged children with opportunities for summer camp.
Mr. Hyde was quite interested in the new school and visited it frequently. On one occasion he presented the boys of the school with a picture of himself fishing from a raft on Beaver Dam near his lodge in Estes Park. He held the picture up and asked who they thought it was. The third grade boys shouted, “Robinson Crusoe!” -
Isely Traditional Magnet Elementary School
Isely Traditional Magnet Elementary School is named after William Henry Isely. William Henry Isely was born in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1865 before migrating to Fairview, Kansas during his childhood. He attended both Ottawa University and Harvard before becoming a teacher and later a Dean at the Fairmount Institute, now known as Wichita State University. Along with former WSU President Nathan J. Morrison, William Henry Isely is credited with keeping the university open in a time of great financial burden.
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Jackson Elementary School
On February 10, 2003, the Board of Education approved the name, Abner Val Jean Jackson Elementary School. Mr. Jackson was a member of many local organizations and offered support and resources to those in need and frequently asked for those contributions not to be made public. He sponsored numerous local scholarships, continuing education funds and community events aimed at providing higher education opportunities to students. He adopted Seltzer Elementary School and provided financial resources to the school and individual students.
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Jardine STEM and Career Explorations Magnet Middle School
Dr. William M. Jardine was an educator and author. He was president of Kansas State University and later served as president of Wichita State University. He was affiliated with agricultural research at Kansas State College in Manhattan and served as minister to Egypt. Dr. Jardine was author of numerous papers and bulletins on agriculture, economics and education.
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Kelly Liberal Arts Academy
The school was named for Mary Kelly, the sister of J.C. Kelly of the Wheeler-Kelly-Hagny Investment Company of Wichita. Mary Kelly taught mathematics in Wichita Public Schools for 47 years. Her first assignment in 1892 was at Irving Elementary School where she taught for nine years. She then spent one year at the old Wichita High School, which became the WATC Central Campus, before becoming head of the mathematics department at the new Wichita High School East where she remained until retirement in 1939.
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Kensler Elementary School
The school was named in honor of Miss Pearl Kensler, a Kansas educator who was a teacher from 1895 to 1950, and from 1950 to 1957 was Sedgwick County Superintendent.
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Lawrence Elementary School
The school was named for Robert E. Lawrence who came to Wichita as a young man, arriving here in May 1870. He made his way on foot to Illinois, selling stencils to earn his way. He taught a short term of school in Illinois and thus was able to buy a team and wagon to complete the journey into Kansas.
Soon after his arrival in Wichita he homesteaded a quarter section of land south and west of Maple and Seneca Streets where he farmed and raised cattle. Today, the Kansas Masonic Home stands upon the site of Maplewood, the spacious stone residence that Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence completed in 1888.
As the city expanded, Mr. Lawrence engaged in various business enterprises: banking, real estate operations and commercial building construction. Along with his business activities, Mr. Lawrence devoted much time to civic affairs. He was an early member of the Wichita Board of Education, served in the Kansas State Legislature, and through his lifetime was a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church. -
Levy Special Education Center
Levy Special Education Center was named in honor of Morris W. Levy who was born in France in 1844. He came to Wichita in 1872. Mr. Levy lived in Wichita for 33 years and was active in civic affairs. He served on the Wichita School Board for 12 years and was president 11 terms. Mr. Levy founded the Wichita Library Association, was president of the Kansas Bankers Association, secretary of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Board of Directors of the Board of Trade, and treasurer of the Stock Association.
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Little Early Childhood Center
Little Elementary School opened in the fall of 1954, named for William Cutter Little. A former Illinois school teacher, Mr. Little became Sedgwick County Superintendent of Public Instruction the year after he came to Wichita in 1870. He was one of the founders of Fairmount College, now Wichita State University. In addition to his many contributions as an educator, Mr. Little also was a lawyer and a banker. He was an influential person in bringing industry to Wichita and in determining city government. He is remembered as the man who introduced alfalfa as a farm crop to this portion of the Arkansas River Valley.
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Mayberry Cultural and Fine Arts Magnet Middle School
The school was named in honor of L.W. Mayberry, who had been superintendent of the Wichita Public Schools from 1912 to 1943. Dedication ceremonies were held November 6, 1955.
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McCollom Elementary School
The school name was chosen to honor C.H. "Hub" McCollom who had been active in the west Wichita community as a school board member, director of the school board from 1955-1958, a township trustee and as an originator of youth recreational facilities for the area.
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McLean Science and Technology Magnet Elementary School
The school was named for Benjamin Franklin McLean, a pioneer lumberman and banker in Wichita. Mr. McLean came to Wichita in 1895 at the age of 36 from Poughkeepsie, New York, and six years later was owner of six lumber yards in Kansas towns. He served on the City Commission and in 1901 began serving his first of three terms as mayor of Wichita. In 1909, he purchased the Naftzger interest in the Fourth National Bank and served as president until 1919 at which time he intended to retire. He returned to the bank presidency in 1924 and served until his death on October 30, 1930.
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Mead Middle School
James R. Mead was one of the leading pioneers of Kansas and of Wichita. While a state senator, he met with Governor Crawford and others to select the site for the City of Wichita. He was greatly interested in the development of Wichita and gave liberally to many worthwhile public enterprises. He donated land for many early-day church and school sites in Wichita.
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Mueller Aerospace and Engineering Discovery Magnet Elementary School
Mueller School was named for Charles P. Mueller, a Wichita pioneer and former president of the Board of Education. He was born in Williamsville, New York, June 13, 1862, and came to Kansas with his parents in 1867. His father had taken a soldier's claim near Lawrence; however, the family moved back to New York in 1874 because of the grasshoppers. Charles began work in a greenhouse in Buffalo, New York in 1875 and in 1882, he returned to Lawrence where he worked as a florist. He came to Wichita in 1883, again working as a florist, and in 1885, he started his own greenhouse. At the time of his death on November 24, 1932, his company was one of the largest floral establishments in Kansas. Mr. Mueller was very active in civic organizations, a charter member of St. Paul's Methodist Church, one of the founders of the Wichita YMCA, and a member of the Rotary Club of Wichita. He was an organizing member of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce and served on its Board of Directors. Mr. Mueller was a member of the Wichita Board of Education from 1914 to 1926, serving as president when Wichita High School East was built.
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Ortiz Elementary School
At its August 9, 2010 meeting, the Board of Education approved the name for the new school as the Martin Ortiz Elementary School. Martin Ortiz (1919-2009) was an educator who inspired students by his words and deeds for generations. Ortiz was born in Wichita, Kansas. His parents migrated to the United States and settled in Wichita soon after the end of the Mexican Revolution. Martin Ortiz attended local schools including North High and Friends University. In his senior year at North, he was elected student council president, the first Latino at North to hold the position. He graduated in 1940 as class valedictorian. He dropped out of Friends to fight in World War II. While in the Marines, he learned to speak Japanese and Samoan and served as a language specialist and aerologist.
After the war, Ortiz earned his bachelor’s degree at Whittier College and a masters at George Williams College (now Aurora University). He returned to Whittier College in 1958 to teach sociology. In 2004, Ortiz was awarded an honorary doctorate from Whittier College.
Ten years later, Ortiz founded Whittier College’s Center of Mexican American Affairs to help recruit Latino students to college and to help them obtain scholarships and jobs. He worked tirelessly to reach out to Latino youths to show them the importance of a higher education. Many of the students he helped enroll were the first in their families to attend college. Besides education, Ortiz was involved in many local, national and international programs, including advising and consulting with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health and with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. -
Payne Elementary School
Payne Elementary was named for David L. Payne, twice a member of the Kansas legislature and one of the well-known figures in the opening of the Oklahoma Territory.
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Peterson Elementary School
It all started in the year 1875 when Daniel Peterson donated some of his farmland for a school. It is believed the very first school was a shed-type building which was probably used until 1898 when a new building was erected and named in honor of Daniel Peterson. This white frame structure was used until 1931 when the school moved into what today is affectionately called "Little Red." This red brick, one-room school with a basement is still in use.
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Price-Harris Communications Magnet Elementary School
Price-Harris combines two elementary schools. The first was named in honor of the late Will G. Price. Mr. Price came to Wichita in 1879 with his parents. He attended Kellogg School and graduated from Wichita High School. He chose school teaching as a career and enrolled in the County Normal School to enable him to qualify for teaching. During the summer months he attended the Wichita Commercial College to learn shorthand, typing, penmanship and bookkeeping. He then taught at Wellington High School, Wellington, Kansas. He later joined two teachers at the Wichita Commercial College forming a partnership and started a new business college, the Wichita Business College. He operated the school until 1916. Mr. Price was never too busy to serve his community and devoted himself to numerous civic activities. He helped found the Wichita Boy Scouts and was instrumental in organizing the Wichita Planning Commission, serving as a member for its first 12 years.
The second was named after Mr. Kos Harris, one of Wichita's earliest citizens who was also one of the city's first lawyers. Mr. Harris's father was an early judge and set up a law practice in Wichita in 1874. Upon the death of his father, Kos Harris practiced law with his son, Vermillion Harris, until he retired in 1924 - 50 years to the day after he opened a law office in Wichita. "Fifty years is long enough for any lawyer to practice law," he commented, and never returned to his office. Mr. Harris was regarded as a profound student of the law and a versatile lawyer, trying both civil and criminal cases. He took active interest in civic affairs. He was a member of the Board of Trade (precursor of the Chamber of Commerce), served on the Board of Education from 1881 to 1885, helped initiate the building of Forum, wrote authoritative chronicles of the history of the plains, was a member of the Pioneer Society of Sedgwick County and was a life member of the Kansas Historical Society.
The memorial resolution adopted by the Wichita bar in 1931 following his death on October 10, noted: "He was more than a lawyer; he was a friend, a philosopher, a scholar, a pioneer, an historian of the community in which he lived his life. To preserve that part in accurate detail, he devoted his time and his talent to a greater degree than any other citizen in Wichita." -
Sowers Alternative High School
Sowers Alternative High School is housed in the former Sowers Elementary School, named for Fred A. Sowers. Wichita's first newspaper, The Vidette, was started in April 1870 by Mr. Sowers. In 1873, Mr. Sowers started the Beacon, the first daily newspaper in the Arkansas Valley. He served on the City Council for two terms and on the Board of Education for three terms.
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Spaght Science and Communications Magnet Elementary School
Originally named Ingalls Elementary after US Senator John Ingalls, the building was renamed after Samuel E. Spaght in 2002. Spaght began his 41 years of service to the district as a teacher and was the first African-American to hold a high-level position in the Wichita Public Schools.
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Stanley Elementary School
In 1929-30, the name was changed to Edmund E. Stanley Elementary School. Stanley became the first president of Friends University. He was a member of the Board of Education from 1905 to 1910.
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Stucky Middle School
Stucky was named after Dean R. Stucky, a prominent educator in Wichita for many years. He was instrumental in working with curriculum, staff and diversity for many years in his leadership positions, including Deputy Superintendent. His wife, Hilda, was a teacher at Southeast High School.
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Truesdell Middle School
Truesdell was named after B. W. Truesdell, who was an administrator at Wichita High School East and was superintendent of schools for Sedgwick County. While at East High, he was affectionately referred to as “Uncle Benny.”
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Wilbur Middle School
Lawrence E. Wilbur was a teacher and administrator in the Wichita schools. For many years he was business manager and secretary-treasurer of the largest school system in Kansas. He was a product of the community, having been educated at Peterson Elementary School (then a one-room building), at Allison Junior High, and at Wichita High School East.
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Woodman Elementary School
The school was named in honor and in memory of a pioneer citizen of Wichita who spoke of herself as a person with an "abounding spirit of adventure." Rea Woodman was an educator, lecturer, historian and a writer of books, poems, plays and essays. Her colorful spirit continues to be manifested in the school that bears her name.