Janes Elementary School (Racine, Wisconsin)

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Janes Elementary School
Map
General information
TypeElementary school
Location1425 North Wisconsin Street
Racine, Wisconsin
Coordinates42°44′20″N 87°47′08″W / 42.73900°N 87.78557°W / 42.73900; -87.78557Coordinates: 42°44′20″N 87°47′08″W / 42.73900°N 87.78557°W / 42.73900; -87.78557
Construction started1855
OwnerRacine Unified School District

Janes Elementary School is an elementary school, serving kindergarten through grade five, located at 1425 North Wisconsin Street in Racine, Wisconsin. Part of the Racine Unified School District, the original school building was built in 1855, with major additions to the building in 1883, 1897, and 1961. The school is surrounded by North Wisconsin Street on the west, Barker Street on the south, North Main Street on the east, and Kewaunee Street on the north. As of 2019, the school has 310 enrolled students.[1]

History[edit | edit source]

The land on which Janes was built was donated to the village of Racine in 1839 by Lorenzo Janes.[2] This area consisted of what is now the north half of the city block bounded by Kewaunee Street, North Wisconsin Street, Barker Street and North Main Street. The south half of the same block was donated to the village in 1840 by Gurdon S. Hubbard, on the condition that if no public building was built there within five years, ownership of the land would revert to Hubbard or his heirs. The Racine Board of Education discovered in 1960, over one hundred years after Janes first opened to students, that this condition was never met, and that the school's playground was technically owned by Hubbard's descendants. The board, and the city of Racine, argued that it retained ownership of the land through adverse possession This is a link to a Wikipedia article.[3]

Construction on a two-story brick school building at the site began in the fall of 1855, which opened as the Fourth Ward grammar school in 1856. It was one of the three grammar school buildings built in Racine at that time,[2] along with the Third Ward and Fifth Ward grammar schools, all of which survive in some form today. The original Fourth Ward school building housed four teachers and approximately two hundred students. The building was expanded in 1883, adding four more classrooms, including a large assembly room for fifth through eighth grade students.[2]

In 1897, the original part of the building was demolished, and replaced with a three-story building with eight classrooms, attached to the 1883 addition. At the same time, the Board of Education unanimously voted to name the school for Lorenzo Janes, whose son was then serving as the city's mayor.[2][4] The first electric lights were installed in the building in 1922. In 1923, the Racine Day School for the Deaf began occupying two rooms in the Janes building.[2]

A multipurpose room was added to the school in 1958. A major expansion of the building added a modern wing with 10 classrooms, opening to students in late 1961. After the addition opened, Janes had 635 students,[5] out of a capacity of 850, up from 443 students before the expansion. Along with to the opening of Goodland Elementary School in 1962, the expansion of Janes allowed all elementary school students to be moved out of Washington School.[6]

Janes principal Lawrence Terry was suspended in 1990, after teachers filed a union grievance alleging that he had a policy that no teacher should call emergency services without his approval.[7] The local NAACP This is a link to a Wikipedia article chapter and other Black civil rights activists accused the school district of discriminating against Terry because of his race, and suspending him before any effort to investigate the claims, some of which the Racine Education Association later dropped. Terry's suspension lasted two months before he was moved to Garfield Early Childhood School.[8]

In 1993, Janes was chosen to become the first school in Racine to experiment with year-round schooling This is a link to a Wikipedia article, which eliminated summer vacation in favor of month-long breaks distributed throughout the year. Year-round schooling at Janes began in July 1994.[9] The experiment was successful, and the year-round schedule was made permanent in 1998. In 2012, the Racine Journal Times found that teachers, students, and parents were happy with the alternative schedule, arguing that the lack of a long summer vacation reduced the amount of re-learning that would otherwise be required in fall.[10] However, the Racine Unified School Board found that Janes students were struggling academically, compared to students at other schools in the district, and the alternative schedule caused problems for nearby residents. With one board member describing the schedule as a "noble experiment", the board decided to end year-round schooling at Janes in 2016. Reportedly, few Janes teachers or parents came to school board meetings leading up to the decision to defend the alternative schedule.[11]

In December 2015, six kindergarten students in the Racine Unified School District were reportedly suspended for performing simulated sexual acts at school. While the district refused to publicly comment on the allegations or name the school that the events took place at, the Racine Journal Times spoke to parent volunteers who confirmed that it took place at Janes. Janes principal Kimberly Romero and the kindergarten teacher in question did not return from winter break, and were replaced with substitutes in January 2016.[12]

Racine Unified announced in 2019 that Janes would eventually be closed as part of its "long-range facilities master plan." Under the plan, the school would be merged with Roosevelt Elementary School, which would be housed in a new building.[13]

Principals[edit | edit source]

  • I. N. Miller, 1856-1859
  • E. H. Knapp, 1859-1860
  • I. N. Miller, 1860-1862
  • Harriet Blackburn, 1862-1863
  • Emeline Marsh, 1863-1867
  • L. W. Briggs, 1867-1869
  • James Hannon, 1869-1870
  • S. S. Morse, 1870-1874
  • George Skewes, 1874-1880
  • D. O. Hibbard, 1880-1889
  • J. C. NeCollins, 1889-1919
  • L. F. Rahr, 1919-1920
  • W. I. Hood, 1920-1922[2]
  • R. C. Winger, 1922-1929[14]
  • F. C. Meyer, 1929-1935
  • E. J. McCarr, 1935-1940[15]
  • H. B. Temme, 1940-[16]
  • Godfrey D. Stevens, -1947
  • Ben G. Lahr, 1947-1961[17]
  • Ernest Nielsen, 1961-1968[18]
  • Frank Sweet, 1968-1975[19]
  • John Blickle, 1975-1982[20]
  • George Knudtson, 1982-1984[21]
  • Michael Kaiserlian, 1984-1986[22]
  • Richard Fornal, 1986-1987[23]
  • Lawrence Terry, 1987-1990[7]
  • Deborah Coca, 1990-2010
  • José Martínez (acting principal), 2010[24]
  • Walter Robles, 2011-2015[25]
  • Kimberly Romero, 2015[26]
  • Dr. Evelyn Resto, present[27]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Janes Elementary School, WISEdash, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Janes School, Its Past and Its Present, Racine Journal Times, October 30, 1924, page 10.
  3. ↑ "Name Elementary School for Walter S. Goodland", Racine Journal Times, September 13, 1960, page 4.
  4. ↑ "A Change in Fuel; May Decide to Heat School Buildings With Soft Coal", Racine Journal Times, May 30, 1896, front page.
  5. ↑ "Janes School, Started in 1856, Gains 10 Rooms", Racine Journal Times, May 13, 1962, page 14A.
  6. ↑ "Board Awards Contracts for 11 Rooms at Janes", Racine Journal Times, April 4, 1961, page 5A.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Buttweiler, Joe. "Janes School principal suspended", Racine Journal Times, May 31, 1990.
  8. ↑ Buttweiler, Joe. "Lawrence Terry takes new post", Racine Journal Times, July 26, 1990.
  9. ↑ Burke, Michael. "Janes goes year-round: Big support from parents, staff", Racine Journal Times, November 16, 1993.
  10. ↑ Burke, Michael. "Year-round school at Janes Elementary remains hugely popular", Racine Journal Times, April 3, 2012.
  11. ↑ Knapp, Aaron. "Board approves end of year-round school at Janes school", Racine Journal Times, April 19, 2016.
  12. ↑ Knapp, Aaron. "Unified still mum on kindergartners suspended for simulating sex acts", Racine Journal Times, January 15, 2016.
  13. ↑ Sievers, Caitlin. "Proposed plans for Unified buildings, Phase One", Racine Journal Times, December 3, 2019.
  14. ↑ Janes P. T. A. Sponsors Reunion for Former Teachers and Students", Racine Journal Times, January 14, 1936, page 8A.
  15. ↑ "26,000 Feet Pound Pavement on Their Way Back to Racine's Public High and Grade Schools", Racine Journal Times, September 3, 1935, front page.
  16. ↑ "Kilburn Quits McKinley Post", Racine Journal Times, July 19, 1940, front page.
  17. ↑ "B. G. Lahr, former principal of Garfield School...", Racine Journal Times, September 16, 1947, page 4A.
  18. ↑ "Board of Education Names 6 Principals", Racine Journal Times, June 13, 1961, page 4A.
  19. ↑ "Teachers Get 8 1/2 to 12% Raises; Unified Names 9 Administrators", Racine Journal Times, March 12, 1968, page 7A.
  20. ↑ Racine Unified School Board minutes, Racine Journal Times, August 23, 1975, page 14.
  21. ↑ Watkins, Marcia. "Unified District shifts 17 school principals", Racine Journal Times, May 20, 1982, front page.
  22. ↑ "Unified administrators named", Racine Journal Times, June 12, 1984, page 3A.
  23. ↑ Taylor, Barbara. "Unified appoints six principals", Racine Journal Times, May 19, 1987, page 3A.
  24. ↑ Thoreson, Bridget. "Janes Elementary principal on leave", Racine Journal Times, August 31, 2010.
  25. ↑ Thoreson, Bridget. "Unified announces principal assignments for elementary schools", Racine Journal Times, April 22, 2011.
  26. ↑ Knapp, Aaron. "New principals named for nine Unified schools", Racine Journal Times, June 27, 2015.
  27. ↑ Janes Elementary School, rusd.org

External links[edit | edit source]

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