The Western Springs Historical Society

History Of District 101

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SYSTEM STARTS OUT "ELEMENTARY"

The Formative Years

District 101 has come a long way since its humble beginnings. The earliest documentation of a school system dates to 1872, at which time Western Springs was included with LaGrange in District 6. Students attended a single one-room school somewhere near the Stone Avenue train station. Bear in mind that the village was in the early stages of development. Incorporation would not occur until 1886. The first census figure is a population of 172 in 1880. However, the early developers apparently believed strongly in local education. William Page, acting as a trustee for the development entity, signed an agreement on July 15, 1872 with James Sullivan Co. Builders of Chicago. The project was to complete a school house on or before October 1, 1872 at Grand and Chestnut for the sum of $2,200. Sullivan Builders might have missed the deadline because classes were not officially held until 1873. A one-room school was operated on the first floor of this building, and the second floor was used for church services and public meetings. District 6 leased this original school house until 1875, when it purchased the building and three lots for $4,000.

In 1884 Western Springs was split from District 6. Now District 9 and faced with a growing school population, the village decided the following year to construct Grand Avenue School, a less expansive version of the Grand Avenue Community Center that exists today. The original school house was moved to make room, ending up at 4028 Wolf Road, where it was converted to a single-family residence. By 1894 Grand Avenue School had three teachers for the three R's and a part-time drawing instructor. One of the teachers also served as principal and made $100 per month. The other two teachers were paid $60 per month. A music teacher was added in 1899 and taught one-half day a week. Mothers began petitioning the District to offer kindergarten during the mid-1890's, but it was not added until 1907.

Tough Depression Times 

By 1920 the population of Western Springs had grown to 1,258 and then more than tripled to 3,784 by 1930. Two schools were built during this decade: Wolf Road School (later renamed McClure School) in 1924 and Franklin Avenue School (later renamed Clark School) in 1929. This might have been a bit "rich" as the Depression hit. Halfway through the 1931-1932 school year, District 101 ran out of money. A group of residents spearheaded a local bond drive and raised the $22,000 needed to keep the village schools open. For the 1932-1933 school year, the Western Springs school system was forced into a part-time operation, and kindergarten was eliminated. The next year it reverted to full-time status but shortened the school year. There was a private and public response to these cutbacks. In October 1932, a group of local parents launched the Western Springs Cooperative Kindergarten. It was operated under the supervision of the District but administered by the Co-op's governing board. For example, parents had to call one of the board members to gain admission and arrange to pay the tuition of $4 per month. In Spring 1934, the District received a federal grant enabling it to re-establish a full-length school year. During those cutback years, total enrollment in Western Springs elementary schools declined from 840 to 541 students. Part of the attrition resulted from the elimination of kindergarten, but it was conjectured that parents who had the means sent their children to full-time schools elsewhere. Decisions about building programs in the 1920's and cutbacks in the 1930's were made by District 101 administrators. It is unclear when the original District 9 became 101, but it had been a while. Surviving school board minutes dated April 24, 1909 refer to the current designation.

The Baby Boom Years and Beyond

Western Springs did continue to grow during the Depression. By 1939, the population was estimated at 4,700, but this was nothing to compare with the post-World War II Baby Boom years to come. Laidlaw School was opened in 1950 to relieve classroom pressure at Grand Avenue School and respond to new homebuilding in the village's northwest sector. Field Park and Forest Hills also were in the midst of a homebuilding binge, which necessitated quick construction of two more neighborhood schools. Both Field Park School and Forest Hills School came on line in 1953. Western Springs continued to "build out," but the large Springdale development of the 1950's and subsequent annexations of Ridgewood and Timber Trails have had no impact on the school system due to agreements that school-age children would attend Highlands School.

Several exterior modifications were made to Grand Avenue School over the years, including expansion of the partial second story to a full second floor and relocation of the southwest bell tower to the center in 1906, a matching two-story addition to the north in 1914, and the addition of a gymnasium and remodeling of the Chestnut Street entrance in 1965. Extensive interior remodeling of Grand Avenue School was undertaken in 1976 during a period of declining enrollment. This proved to be short-sighted because the school was closed for this reason just four years later. While Grand Avenue School was historically interesting with a distinctive limestone exterior and status as the village's oldest public stone building, Franklin Avenue School, rechristened in honor of Superintendent Maurice Clark in 1974, was deemed not worth saving. It was closed as a school in 1982 and subsequently leased to the Western Springs Recreation Association before being demolished in 1998. In essence, no new schools have been built in Western Springs in close to 60 years. However, during that time, Field Park, Forest Hills, Laidlaw, and McClure have undergone numerous expansions and renovations. 

According to historical notes, the peak year for District 101 attendance was 1969, when 1,800 students were enrolled. This would have been 12 years after the highest Baby Boom birth year. Enrollment records currently available from the District only go back to 1985, at which time 831 students were enrolled. A low of 801 students was reached the following year. Presumably, enrollment declined significantly from the 1969 peak, leading to the decision to close both Clark and Grand Avenue Schools by 1982. (Births reached a post-Baby-Boom low in 1975.) In 1987, District 101 enrollment began a steady upward climb. At the start of the current school year, 1,526 students were enrolled in District 101.

Information to develop this article was collected from two historical texts published by the WSHS: Western Springs/19th Century Houses and their Owners and Western Springs/A Centennial History of the Village, historic clippings from local and Chicago newspapers, board minutes of District 101, and historical notes from the WSHS Archives.