McKinley Middle School (Racine, Wisconsin)

McKinley Middle School was a public middle school located at 2340 Mohr Avenue in Racine, Wisconsin, which opened in 1921 and closed in 2018. Known as McKinley Junior High School until 1984, the school is surrounded by Mohr Avenue on the south, Chicago Street on the east, Rupert Boulevard on the north, and Calvary Cemetery on the west. McKinley was part of the Racine Unified School District, which moved into the former McKinley building. At the time of its closure in 2018, McKinley was a certified IB World school and had 525 enrolled students.

History
As of 1908, the property that would become McKinley Middle School was owned by the estate of M.R. Teegarden. In July 1919, the Racine Board of Education announced that it would authorize the construction of a $230,000 school building designed by Arthur A. Guilbert on the Teegarden site. The board originally intended to name the new building "Jefferson school", with "the building now bearing that name [being] renamed and put to different use." In November, the board selected the first contractors for the building's construction and decided to name the new building McKinley. At the same meeting, Superintendent Longanecker proposed establishing three junior high schools in the city to alleviate crowding in its grade schools.

The creation of junior high schools was approved by voters in a referendum held on September 7, 1920. Under the plan, the three junior high schools would be located at the new McKinley school and the existing Franklin and Washington grade schools. With Franklin and Washington continuing to serve as grade schools alongside their junior high programs, McKinley became the city's first exclusive junior high school. The school, touted as being "modern", "strictly fire proof", and "one of the most attractive locations in the city", opened to students on November 15, 1921.

In 1957, a 12-room addition to the building was constructed along Chicago Street. The addition became home to McKinley Elementary School. On November 21, 1976, a new addition to the building was dedicated, which included a new gymnasium/auditorium, and the conversion of the old gym into a new two-level structure containing a lunchroom and a library. In 1981, McKinley Elementary School was closed, allowing the junior high school to be expanded again.

At the start of the 1983–84 school year, Racine Unified moved from a 6–3–3 structure (six years in elementary school, three years in junior high school, three years in senior high school) to a 5–3–4 structure. With this change, McKinley and the city's other junior high schools went from serving grades seven through nine to serving grades six through eight. The following school year, the district changed the names of its junior high schools to middle schools to reflect the new structure; thus, McKinley Junior High School became McKinley Middle School.

The school became McKinley Middle Charter School in 2000, when it had a peak enrollment of 1,040 students. As a charter school, McKinley prioritized "interdisciplinary teaming with thematic units". The school converted an (IB) curriculum in 2010. McKinley was certified as a member of the in 2012.

After the 2017–18 school year, McKinley Middle School closed so that Walden III Middle and High School could move into its building. McKinley's IB program was then moved to Starbuck Middle School, which then became the only 6-8 school in the district.

Principals

 * Henry Clay Kilburn, 1921–1940
 * Edward J. McCarr, 1940–1966
 * Robert Zold, 1966–1984
 * Glenn Kirchner, 1984–1987
 * Frank Osimitz, 1987–January 1990
 * John P. Pelej, January 1990–December 1995
 * Sandra Johannsen Brand, December 1995–September 2000
 * Ronald Bode, November 13, 2000–2002
 * John Nickelsen, 2002–2003
 * Keith Mosley, 2003–2004
 * Lori Sue Pelk, 2004–2009
 * Ann Yehle, 2009–2012
 * Cheri Kulland, 2012–2016
 * Jody Cascio, 2016–2017
 * Katy Poznanski, 2017
 * Ellis Turrentine, 2017–2018