McKinley Middle School (Racine, Wisconsin)

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McKinley Middle School
Map
Address
2340 Mohr Avenue

Racine, Wisconsin

United States
Coordinates42°43′35″N 87°48′40″W / 42.72647°N 87.81115°W / 42.72647; -87.81115Coordinates: 42°43′35″N 87°48′40″W / 42.72647°N 87.81115°W / 42.72647; -87.81115
Information
School typePublic middle school
OpenedNovember 15, 1921
ClosedJune 2018
School districtRacine Unified School District
Grades7th to 9th grade (1921–1984)
6th to 8th grade (1984–2018)
Enrollment525 (September 2017)[1]

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 Walden III Middle and High School This is a link to a Wikipedia article 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.[1]

History[edit | edit source]

As of 1908, the property that would become McKinley Middle School was owned by the estate of M.R. Teegarden.[2] 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."[3] 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.[4]

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.[5] 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.[6]

In 1957, a 12-room addition to the building was constructed along Chicago Street. The addition became home to McKinley Elementary School.[7] 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.[8] In 1981, McKinley Elementary School was closed, allowing the junior high school to be expanded again.[9]

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.[10] 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.[11]

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".[12] The school converted an International Baccalaureate This is a link to a Wikipedia article (IB) curriculum in 2010.[13] McKinley was certified as a member of the IB Middle Years Programme This is a link to a Wikipedia article in 2012.[14]

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.[15]

Principals[edit | edit source]

  • Henry Clay Kilburn, 1921–1940[16]
  • Edward J. McCarr, 1940–1966[8]
  • Robert Zold, 1966–1984[17]
  • Glenn Kirchner, 1984–1987
  • Frank Osimitz, 1987–January 1990[18][19]
  • John P. Pelej, January 1990–December 1995[20]
  • Sandra Johannsen Brand, December 1995–September 2000[21][22]
  • Ronald Bode, November 13, 2000–2002[23]
  • John Nickelsen, 2002–2003[24]
  • Keith Mosley, 2003–2004[25]
  • Lori Sue Pelk, 2004–2009[26]
  • Ann Yehle, 2009–2012[27]
  • Cheri Kulland, 2012–2016[28]
  • Jody Cascio, 2016–2017
  • Katy Poznanski, 2017
  • Ellis Turrentine, 2017–2018[29]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 WISEdash Public Portal, Wisconsin Public Schools Directory, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
  2. ↑ Map 2/1908-2.htm Map of the City of Racine, Section 2, Hennessey & Co., 1908, via racinecounty.net.
  3. ↑ "View Plans for 2 New Schools", Racine Journal-News, July 23, 1919, front page.
  4. ↑ "Would Reorganize Public School System in Racine"; "To Hasten Work on New Schools", Racine Journal-News, November 7, 1919, front page.
  5. ↑ "The Six-Three-Three Plan Will Make Racine's School System Efficient" (advertisement), Racine Journal Times, August 27, 1920, section 2, page 10.
  6. ↑ "New Junior High School Complete", Racine Journal-News, November 2, 1921, front page.
  7. ↑ "Dedicate Primary Addition Today", Racine Journal Times, March 24, 1957, page 6A.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Corty, Julianne. "McKinley – first of the junior highs", Racine Journal Times, November 18, 1976, page three.
  9. ↑ Watkins, Marcia. "Parents urge school boycott to protest closings", Racine Journal Times, March 6, 1981, page 5A.
  10. ↑ "School opening dates reported", Racine Journal Times, August 10, 1983, page 4A.
  11. ↑ Frahm, Robert A. "McKinley Middle School?", Racine Journal Times, May 3, 1984, front page.
  12. ↑ Sides, Phyllis. "Racine Unified's first two charter schools set to open", Racine Journal Times, August 28, 2000.
  13. ↑ Fiori, Lindsay. "McKinley Middle kicks off year as IB school", Racine Journal Times, September 1, 2010.
  14. ↑ "PHOTO: McKinley Middle School becomes authorized IB School", Racine Journal Times, October 2, 2012.
  15. ↑ Spoto, Cara. "Big changes for middle schools", Racine Journal Times, April 14, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Kilburn Quits McKinley Post", Racine Journal Times, July 19, 1940, front page.
  17. ↑ "Kirchner named to McKinley post", Racine Journal Times, November 6, 1984, page 4A.
  18. ↑ Taylor, Barbara. "Unified appoints six principals", Racine Journal Times, May 19, 1987, page 3A.
  19. ↑ "Racine County: Principal appointed", Racine Journal Times, January 17, 1990, page 5A.
  20. ↑ Burke, Michael. "McKinley principal takes new position", Racine Journal Times, October 24, 1995, page 9A.
  21. ↑ "Johannsen wins post at McKinley", Racine Journal Times, December 5, 1995, page 1B.
  22. ↑ Sides, Phyllis. "New principal a familiar face at Case High", Racine Journal Times, September 28, 2000, page 1C.
  23. ↑ "McKinley names new principal", Racine Journal Times, November 14, 2000.
  24. ↑ "Building stronger teams for the 2002-03 school year", Racine Journal Times, August 18, 2002, page 1B.
  25. ↑ "Positions", Racine Journal Times, June 29, 2003, page 13A.
  26. ↑ Block, Dustin. "Leadership changes announced at Unified", Racine Journal Times, July 16, 2004.
  27. ↑ "McKinley Middle School has new principal", Racine Journal Times, August 24, 2009.
  28. ↑ "Four Racine Unified schools to have new principals", Racine Journal Times, July 16, 2012.
  29. ↑ "Employee Records for Mckinley Middle Principal", OpenPayrolls.com

External links[edit | edit source]

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