Starbuck Middle School (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
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| coordinates = {{coord|42.71325|-87.83751|display=inline,title}}
▲{{Infobox building
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|established =
|schooltype = Public middle school
|grades = 6th to 8th grade
| opened_date = September 5, 1962▼
|principal =
▲| owner = [[Racine Unified School District]]
|address
|city = [[Racine, Wisconsin]]
|country = United States
|enrollment = 687 <small>(September 2019)</small><ref name=wis-dpi-data>[https://dpi.wi.gov/wisedash/download-files WISEdash Public Portal], Wisconsin Public Schools Directory, [[Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction]].</ref>
}}
'''Starbuck Middle School''' is a middle school, serving grades six through eight, located at '''1516 [[Ohio Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|Ohio Street]]''' in [[Racine, Wisconsin|Racine]], [[Wisconsin]], which opened in 1962. Part of the [[Racine Unified School District]], Starbuck is an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Baccalaureate IB World] school, alongside RUSD's [[Jefferson Lighthouse Elementary School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Jefferson Lighthouse Elementary School]], [[West Ridge Elementary School (Racine, Wisconsin)|West Ridge Elementary School]], and [[Jerome I. Case High School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Jerome I. Case High School]]. As of 2020, Starbuck is also the only middle school in the district to serve exclusively grades six through eight; all others are K–8 or 6–12 schools. Known as '''Starbuck Junior High School''' until 1984, the school is surrounded by Ohio Street on the east, [[Sixteenth Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|Sixteenth Street]] on the south, [[Perry Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Perry Avenue]] on the west, and [[Wright Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Wright Avenue]] on the north. As of 2019, the school has
==History==
In 1858<ref>[http://racinecounty.net/Redding%20and%20Watson/Redding%20and%20Watson.htm "Redding & Watson's Map of Racine County - 1858"], racinecounty.net.</ref> and 1873,<ref>[http://racinecounty.net/1873%20RK%20Map/1873%20RK%20Map.htm "Map of Racine and Kenosha Counties - 1873"], racinecounty.net.</ref> the farm of N. A. Walker comprised the future location of Starbuck Middle School and [[Westgate Mall Shopping Center (Racine, Wisconsin)|Westgate Mall Shopping Center]]. By 1893, Walker's farm was owned by M. George and had been expanded to the south. George's 65-acre property was bounded by what is now [[Washington Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Washington Avenue]] on the north, Ohio Street on the east, the [[Racine–Sturtevant Trail]] (formerly the [[Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad]]) on the south, and [[Perry Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Perry Avenue]] on the west.<ref>[http://racinecounty.net/East%20End%20Racine%20County/East%20End%20Racine%20County.htm "Map Drawing - East End of Racine County - 1893"], racinecounty.net.</ref> In 1930, this same area was owned by [[J. E. Rowland & Sons]], a local real estate company.<ref>[https://online.flowpaper.com/7695073a/MapBook/#page=5 "Racine County Map Book - 1930"], racinecounty.net.</ref>
By 1950, the Racine Board of Education owned two large plots of land outside the city of Racine that were reserved for future school construction, one on the western side of Ohio Street at [[Sixteenth Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|Sixteenth Street]], and the other west of [[Graceland Cemetery (Racine, Wisconsin)|Graceland Cemetery]] (now the location of [[Goodland Elementary School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Goodland Elementary School]]).<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44187772/the_journal_times/ "Consider School Site on Southwest Side"], [[Racine Journal Times]], November 22, 1950, page eight.</ref> In 1954, with the demographic effects of the "
[[File:Starbuck Middle School, scale model 1959.png|thumb|A scale model of the school in its planning stages in 1959 shows "(1) music, drama, multipurpose room and administration offices; (2) two-story classroom section; (3) cafeteria, and, to the rear, homemaking and art rooms; (4) physical education with graphic arts, electrical and metals classrooms in foreground, and (5) heating plant."<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44200866/the_journal_times/ "Racine's 6th Junior High School"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 7, 1959, front page.</ref>]]
Spiro J. Papas, owner of the theater, initially agreed to sell the plot to the school board on three conditions: "that the school system never object to the use of his property to the north as a theater or for other commercial purposes, make no attempt to have the theater annexed to the city[,] and would re-sell the plot to him at the sale price, if no school were built on the site by the end of 1963. Only the last restriction remained" by the time the sale was finalized on December 8, 1958, when the plot was purchased from Papas for $27,500. In the same meeting, the school board accepted a proposal by Malcolm Williams, an architect at the [[Warren Holmes Company]] in [[Lansing, Michigan]], for the design of the building.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44192954/the_journal_times/ "School Board Defers Budget Cuts Until Year End Surplus Is Known"], [[Racine Journal Times]], December 9, 1958, page four.</ref> In March 1959, the school board decided to name the new school after Frank R. Starbuck, longtime publisher of the [[Racine Journal Times]], who had died in 1951.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44193774/the_journal_times/ "New Junior High to Be Named Frank R. Starbuck School"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 10, 1959, front page.</ref> Voters in the nearby [[Mygatts Corners School (Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin)|Mygatts Corners School]] and [[Trautwein School (Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin)|Trautwein School]] districts opposed efforts in 1959 to expand or renovate their own facilities, in part because the construction of Starbuck signaled that their districts would soon be consolidated with the Racine Board of Education.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44198428/the_journal_times/ "Pressure for Consolidation"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 2, 1959, page 18.</ref>
On May 9, 1960, the Board of Education awarded $2,227,758 in contracts for Starbuck's construction. [[Nelsen & Co. (Racine, Wisconsin)|Nelsen & Co.]] was hired as the general contractor, [[Wenninger Company]] of [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]] was hired as the heating contractor, and [[Magaw Electric Company]] and [[Advance Plumbing Company (Racine, Wisconsin)|Advance Plumbing Company]] received the other two contracts. The Board had hoped that Starbuck would open in the fall of 1961, to relieve overcrowding at [[Mitchell Middle School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Mitchell
[[File:Starbuck Middle School under construction, 1960.png|thumb|left|An annotated photograph of the Starbuck construction site in December 1960, as seen from the [[Perry Avenue Water Tower (Racine, Wisconsin)|Perry Avenue Water Tower]].<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44214982/the_journal_times/ "Starbuck School Takes Shape", [[Racine Journal Times]], December 11, 1960, page six.</ref>]]
During the school's construction in 1961, the Racine Board of Education merged with 24 smaller school districts to form the [[Racine Unified School District]]. As the consolidation approached, voters rejected a plan to expand the overcrowded [[Richards School (Racine, Wisconsin)|Richards School]], in part because some of that overcrowding would be relieved by Starbuck's opening.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44216452/the_journal_times/ "District Rejects Plan to Expand Richards School"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 20, 1961, pages one and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44216533/the_journal_times/ ten].</ref> In the fall of 1961, four classrooms for academically talented children opened in the building during the construction.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44218439/the_journal_times/ "Starbuck"], [[Racine Journal Times]], August 20, 1961, section 4, page 11.</ref> The first play presented in the new school's theater was a production of {{W|The Curious Savage|''
Starbuck, Racine's sixth junior high school, was dedicated in a ceremony on May 27, 1962, followed by public tours of the {{convert|136200|sqft|m2}} building.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44220039/the_journal_times/ "Will Dedicate Starbuck School Today"], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 27, 1962, pages 1A and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44220159/the_journal_times/ 1D].</ref> The first day of classes was September 5, 1962, <ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44220943/the_journal_times/ "Record 30,472 Report on 1st Day of School"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 5, 1962, page 4A.</ref> The school's theater became home to the [[Racine Children's Theatre]], which was able to double its capacity in the larger auditorium.<ref>Green Dunlap, Beatrice. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44221837/the_journal_times/ "Children's Theatre Season to Open"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 30, 1962, page 4B.</ref>
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On April 1, 1976, 220 patients from [[Westview Nursing Home (Racine, Wisconsin)|Westview Nursing Home]] were evacuated into the school building after the nursing home received an anonymous bomb threat, which was later found to be a hoax.<ref>Devlin, Sean P. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44222675/the_journal_times/ "Citizens respond to Westview plight"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 1, 1976, page 1D.</ref> 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, Starbuck and the city's other junior high schools went from serving grades seven through nine to serving grades six through eight.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44223516/the_journal_times/ "School opening dates reported"], [[Racine Journal Times]], August 10, 1983, page 4A.</ref> The following school year, the district changed the names of its junior high schools to middle schools to reflect the new structure; thus, Starbuck Junior High School became Starbuck Middle School.<ref>Frahm, Robert A. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44223822/the_journal_times/ "McKinley Middle School?"], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 3, 1984, front page.</ref>
After the 2017–18 school year, [[McKinley Middle School (Racine, Wisconsin)|McKinley Middle School]] closed so that [[Walden III Middle and High School]] could move into its building. McKinley's
==Principals==
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==External links==
* [https://www.rusd.org/starbuck/ Starbuck Middle School], rusd.org
{{Racine Unified School District}}
[[Category:Racine Unified School District]]
[[Category:Buildings on Ohio Street (Racine, Wisconsin)]]
[[Category:Schools in Racine, Wisconsin]]
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