Garfield High School (Akron, Ohio)

Garfield High School
Location
1326 Brown Street

Akron
,
Ohio
44301

United States

41°02′45″N 81°30′42″W / 41.045795°N 81.511744°W / 41.045795; -81.511744
Information
TypePublic
Motto"Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve"
Established1926
Closed2017
School district
Akron Public Schools
Enrollment751 (2014–15)[1]
ColorsMaroon and gold    
Athletics conference
Akron City Series
NicknameGolden Rams

Garfield High School was a public high school located in Akron, Ohio, United States. At the time of its closure in 2017, it was one of seven high schools in the Akron Public Schools. Athletic teams were known as the Golden Rams and competed as members of the Akron City Series.

The school, established in 1926, closed after the 2016–17 school year and was merged with Kenmore High School while the Garfield High School building was razed. The merged school, initially known as Kenmore–Garfield High School, was housed at the Kenmore High School building from 2017 to 2022 while a new facility was built on the site of Garfield High School. Upon moving to the new site in 2022, the school was renamed Garfield Community Learning Center.

History

Plans for the school were first announced in late 1922. It was intended as a replacement for the existing South High School with the South High School building repurposed as a grade school.[2] The plans were approved by the school board in February 1923 with an intended opening of September 1924.[3] The decision to name the school after James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States, came in April 1923 after the board had initially decided not to name it after Garfield.[4][5] In December 1923, at the urging of Harvey S. Firestone, the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and developer of the Firestone Park neighborhood where the school was being built, the school was nearly named for U.S. president Warren G. Harding, who had died a few months earlier in August. The board, however, elected not to change the name.[6]

Opposition from parents in the area around South High School, followed by the election of four new school board members in late 1923, led to delays in approving plans and issuing construction bonds, and reducing the original budget and size of the building, with the board eventually agreeing to make it an additional high school rather than a replacement of South.[7][8] Later delays came from additional reductions in the budget and further revisions to the building plans and a lawsuit over the bidding process.[9] The case went before the Ohio Supreme Court, who ruled in December against the district and required them to reopen bidding before construction could begin.[10] A second lawsuit was filed in early January 1925 with a permanent injunction granted in February, again related to irregularities in how contractors had complied with the specifications of the bid.[11] Litigation was settled by May, resulting in further reductions in the budget and reducing the building to one wing of classrooms and an auditorium, with plans for a gymnasium and additional wing of classrooms in the near future. The contract was awarded May 28 and groundbreaking was held June 4, 1925.[12] The contracts for the gym and athletic fields were awarded in late December, and the contract for the second classroom wing in March 1926.[13][14]

Garfield High School opened for classes on September 7, 1926, and was formally dedicated on November 19. James R. Garfield, the son of the slain president, gave the principal address at the ceremony.[15][16] Just one month after its dedication, though, the district nearly closed the high school to convert it to a junior high after an audit found that the district's six high schools had 3,000 more seats than they did students.[17] Protests from students and the Firestone Park neighborhood, however, led the board to reverse the decision in January 1927.[18] In 1966, Garfield High School became the first comprehensive high school in Akron when it opened an addition for vocational education facilities.

Garfield closed in 2017 at the end of the 2016–17 school year and merged with Kenmore High School for the 2017–18 school year due to declining enrollment and rising costs.[19] While the new building was constructed at the Garfield site,[20] the combined school at the Kenmore location was named Kenmore–Garfield, but retained Garfield's colors and the Golden Rams team name.[21]

In May 2021, it was announced that the new building at the Garfield site would be called Garfield Community Learning Center, which the school board hoped would allow the Kenmore name to stay on a building in the Kenmore neighborhood.[22]

Demographics

In the 2011–2012 school year, the average enrollment was 880 students. The student body was 62.1% black (non-Hispanic), 26.1% white (non-Hispanic), 5.5% multi-racial, 3.9% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 2.0% Hispanic. 87.7% of the students were classified as economically disadvantaged, and 22.1% had learning disabilities.[23]

Notable alumni

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Garfield High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  2. ↑ "South Akronites Oppose Proposed New High School". Akron Beacon Journal. December 8, 1922. p. 19. Organized opposition to the proposed new high school in Firestone Park and the change of the present South high for grade school purposes...
  3. ↑ "New South High School Approved By School Board". Akron Beacon Journal. February 7, 1923. p. 1.
  4. ↑ "Will Choose Name For Newest School". Akron Beacon Journal. April 18, 1923. p. 16. The original name of Garfield high school was not selected Tuesday when one of the board members objected, declaring that a school in Cleveland had the same name and that it might cause a conflict in case of athletic competition or other contests.
  5. ↑ "Name Selected For Newest High School". Akron Beacon Journal. April 25, 1923. p. 18. The new high school to be built in Firestone Park next year was named the Garfield high by a unanimous vote of the board of education members at their meeting Tuesday afternoon.
  6. ↑ "Name of New School to Remain Garfield". Akron Beacon Journal. December 29, 1923. p. 11. Garfield high school in Firestone park will retain its name and not be named Harding school..." "The action resulted from a letter from H.S. Firestone suggesting the change.
  7. ↑ "Board Authorizes Issuance of Bonds". Akron Beacon Journal. May 30, 1923. p. 12. When it became known that the board had authorized the issuance of bonds it was learned from Fred M, Webber, president of the South High Civic association, that an injunction will be asked restraining the issuance of the bonds.
  8. ↑ "Cost of New School is Slashed $200,000". Akron Beacon Journal. November 15, 1923. pp. 1, 23.
  9. ↑ "Mulcahy Granted Court Injunction". Akron Beacon Journal. October 23, 1924. p. 1.
  10. ↑ "Supreme Court Rules Against Making Award". Akron Beacon Journal. December 23, 1924. p. 1.
  11. ↑ "Judge Grants Injunction in Garfield Case". Akron Beacon Journal. February 2, 1925. p. 1. The granting of the injunction sets another block in the path of the board in building the Garfield school a matter that has now been in the courts for a year or more.
  12. ↑ "Ground For Garfield High School Broken". Akron Beacon Journal. June 4, 1925. p. 1.
  13. ↑ "Board of Education Gives Two Contracts". Akron Beacon Journal. December 29, 1925. p. 12.
  14. ↑ "Contract on Last Unit of Garfield School is Given". Akron Beacon Journal. March 23, 1926. p. 15.
  15. ↑ "Garfield High School Soon Finished". Akron Beacon Journal. August 27, 1926. p. 32.
  16. ↑ "New High School Dedication Will Be Held Tonight". Akron Beacon Journal. November 19, 1926. p. 1.
  17. ↑ "Citizens Attend Protest Meeting On School Plans". Akron Beacon Journal. December 27, 1926. p. 13. Action to cut off one high school was taken...after a chamber of commerce survey, nade under the direction of H.G. McGee, head of the Municipal Research bureau, disclosed that there were 3,000 more seats than there were students in the six high schools.
  18. ↑ "Proposals by Citizens Save Garfield High". Akron Beacon Journal. January 4, 1927. p. 13.
  19. ↑ Garrett, Renee (October 11, 2016). "BOARD VOTES ON HIGH SCHOOL: Plan will merge Kenmore, Garfield". Akron Public Schools. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  20. ↑ Thomas, Monica L. (December 12, 2016). "Akron school board approves Garfield site for high school combined with Kenmore". Ohio.com. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  21. ↑ Armon, Rick; Cottom, Theresa (November 7, 2016). "Akron councilman urges school board to adopt "Kenmore-Garfield" name for new high school". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  22. ↑ Pignolet, Jennifer (May 11, 2021). "Akron school board names Kenmore-Garfield high school replacement Garfield CLC". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  23. ↑ http://www.ode.state.oh.us/reportcardfiles/2011-2012/BUILD/013128.pdf
  24. ↑ "(photo caption)". The Akron Beacon Journal. Ohio, Akron. December 26, 1951. p. 12. Retrieved September 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
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