Kent City School District

The district was formed around 1860^[4] by merging several smaller one-room school house districts into one centralized district for the village. As Kent was still known as Franklin Mills, the district was originally known as the "Franklin Union School District".^[5] The district would continue to be known as a "Franklin Union" district even after residents voted to change the name of the village from Franklin Mills to Kent in 1864. During the 1860s, the district began to divide the students in the school houses by grade level. As a result of the curriculum and management changes, the district elected to close the schoolhouses and erect a centralized building for all grades. Although initially planned for 1868, construction delays prevented the building from opening until March 1869. During the school year leading up to the opening of the new building, which would initially be known as the "Union School" and later as "Central School," students in the high school grades were housed at the Franklin Township Hall^[6] in Kent while all other grades remained at their respective school house. The building would serve as the home of all students until growth in the community necessitated the construction of two additional elementary schools: South School in 1880 and DePeyster School in 1888.^[4] Even with the new schools, the original Union/Central building would be the home of Kent High School until 1922.^[4]

As Kent continued to grow throughout the twentieth century, new schools and changes became necessary. A new high school was built in 1922 and was named in honor of Theodore Roosevelt. The original Union School continued to be used as an elementary school known as Central School until 1953 when a new Central Elementary School was constructed on its predecessor's front yard. Following the completion of the new school, the Union School building was torn down. Additional elementary schools followed first with the construction of Longcoy Elementary School on the city's west side. By 1958 the high school had outgrown its facility, so a new high school building was built on the north side of the city. It retained the name of Theodore Roosevelt and the former high school building was rechristened as Davey Junior High School in the fall of 1959 when the new high school opened. 1959 also saw the merging of the Franklin Local School District and the Brady Lake School District into the Kent City Schools,^[7] which added two more elementary schools: Franklin Elementary and Emma Williard (Brady Lake) Elementary. The 1960s saw the last elementary schools built in Kent with the opening of Holden Elementary in 1965 on the city's south side and Walls Elementary on the east side in 1966.^[8] Most of South School was razed in 1966 following the completion of Holden except for the building's gym which was leased to the Kent Parks and Recreation Department and used as the Kent Recreation Center. Enrollment growth through the 1960s and into the 1970s resulted in additions at Walls School, Davey Junior High School, and Roosevelt High School. Also in 1970, the district entered into a cooperative agreement with the Stow-Munroe Falls, Cuyahoga Falls, Woodridge, Tallmadge, and Hudson school districts to provide vocational education. This compact, known as the Six District Compact, was the first of its kind in the state of Ohio.^[9] In 1978, ninth graders were moved from Davey to Roosevelt, Emma Williard School was closed, and the school board moved into offices in the renovated DePeyster School building.^[10]

More information Administrative, Facility ...

Administrative
Facility	Location	Head	Photo	Notes
District offices	321 N. DePeyster St. 41°9′24″N 81°21′21″W	Tom Larkin, Superintendent		Housed in the former DePeyester School since 1978
Transportation Center	1633 St. Clair Ave. 41°8′20″N 81°21′52″W	Richard Lewis[11]		Housed in the former Kent State University bus garage since 1997
Christenson Operations Center	1205 Brady Lake Rd. 41°9′51″N 81°20′18″W	Robert Munroe

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More information Schools, School ...

Schools
School	Grades	Location	Principal	Faculty*	Enrollment*	Photo	Named for
Davey Elementary School	PK–5	196 N. Prospect St. 41°9′27″N 81°22′1″W	Abbey Bolton[12]	49[13]	445[13]		John Davey, Martin L. Davey, Paul Davey, & Martin L. Davey, Jr., notable Kent residents
Holden Elementary School	K–5	132 W. School St. 41°8′33″N 81°21′34″W	Dave Ravida[14]	23[13]	229[13]		Belle Holden, 1879 graduate of Kent High School and teacher and principal in the district, mainly at South School, 1882–1931
Longcoy Elementary School	K–5	1069 Elno Ave. 41°8′45″N 81°22′56″W	Heidi Singer[15]	33[13]	279[13]		Harry Longcoy, previous owner of the land the school and most of the surrounding neighborhood were built on
Walls Elementary School	K–5	900 Doramor St. 41°9′29″N 81°20′43″W	David Ulbricht[16]	35[13]	354[13]		William A. Walls, principal of Kent High School, 1907–1910; Superintendent of Kent Schools, 1910–1915 & 1920–1937
Stanton Middle School	6–8	1175 Hudson Rd. 41°10′8″N 81°21′47″W	Kathy Scott[17]	94[13]	655[13]		Robert W. Stanton, principal of Roosevelt High School, 1952–1954; Assistant Superintendent of Kent Schools, 1958–1962; Superintendent of Kent Schools, 1962–1977
Theodore Roosevelt High School	9–12	1400 N. Mantua St. 41°10′8″N 81°21′22″W	Dennis Love[18]	137[13]	1,256[13]		Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

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More information Former schools, School ...

Former schools
School	Grades	Location	Building status	Years operated	Notes	Photo
Central Elementary School	K–8; K–6; K–5	200 N. Mantua St. 41°9′20″N 81°21′44″W	Leased to the LEAP program and Portage Learning Centers[19][20]	1953–2000	Used as an annex of Roosevelt High School, 2000–2014
DePeyster School	1–6; K–6	321 N. DePeyster St. 41°9′24″N 81°21′21″W	Renovated for use as district offices, 1977–78	1888–1966	Replaced by Walls Elementary School in 1966; Used as an annex of Davey Junior High School, 1966–67
Franklin Elementary School	1–8; K–6; K–5	6662 SR 43 41°10′17″N 81°21′8″W	Sold to Davey Tree in 2021[21] Razed in 2022	1922–2014	Served as Franklin Township School, 1922–1960
Emma Williard/Brady Lake School	1–11; 1–8; K–6	1945 Brady Lake Rd. 41°10′08″N 81°19′27″W	Sold to private developer; addition demolished, original building renovated into condos	1923–1978	Merged into Kent Schools 1959
South School	K–6	1115 Franklin Ave. 41°08′36″N 81°21′36″W	Partially razed in 1966; former gym converted to recreation center	1880–1965	Replaced by Holden Elementary School, 1965
South Schoolhouse	1–6	1115 Franklin Ave 41°8′36.14″N 81°21′34.92″W	Razed ca. 1895	1869–1880	Built after completion of Union School in 1869. Replaced by South School in 1880. Site later used for gym addition to South School.
Union School/Central School	1–12; 1–8; K–6	200 N. Mantua St. 41°09′22″N 81°21′44″W	Razed in 1953	1869–1952	Housed all grades, 1869–1922 Replaced by new Central School, 1953

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* = enrollment and faculty numbers as of the 2023–24 school year

• History of Kent, Ohio