BRENT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
BRENT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Brent Elementary, located near the Capitol on 3rd and North Carolina, SE. This location has been in constant use for education since 1809, when a portion of the lot was purchased for the Washington Academy for a whopping $100, a price that today might allow you to purchase a commemorative brick or two for Brent\’s walkway.
Robert Brent was the first mayor of Washington, DC. He stumbled into that role by happening to own a fair amount of land when the Federal Government decided that much of it would make a lovely capital.
Robert Brent would become a prosperous merchant, most notably by selling the government the sandstone required to build the White House and the Capitol. He was asked by Thomas Jefferson to become the first mayor of the new City of Washington. Having little population at the time, there was relatively little point in having an elected mayor at this point. He served without pay for ten years, reappointed annually well into President James Madison\’s term. As mayor, he was responsible for starting the process of turning Peter L\’Enfant\’s grand vision into a working city, made that much more difficult as L\’Enfant had been sacked and many of his details had not been elaborated upon. In Brent\’s ten terms, provisions were made to continue laying out roads, establish a tax system, build public markets, and, yes, establish a public school system.
But little did he know it that his story would come full circle at Brent Elementary. In a recently discovered document, Robert Brent was one of 370 local luminaries that signed a pledge by President Jefferson to build a public school system in the nation\’s Capital. In an original version of a public-private venture, they raised funds to build two one rooms school houses, one of which was on the site of –you guessed it– Brent Elementary.
Info from: http://www.thehillishome.com/2009/11/how-the-schools-of-capitol-hill-got-their-names-brent-elementary/
EASTERN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
EASTERN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Founded in 1890, Eastern Senior High School was another high school Arthur Capper residents' children attended. From the Eastern Senior High School website: Eastern provides engaging, college preparatory coursework and extra-curricular learning experiences that ensure all students graduate with the content knowledge, character, and confidence to serve as innovative, inclusive global leaders. Eastern will enroll first time ninth and tenth grade students only for the 2012-2013 school year, growing by one grade each year in order to strategically design a rigorous, well-rounded high school experience for every student. The 550 students in the Classes of 2015 and 2016, with support from exemplary teachers and a diverse set of community partners, will build upon rich traditions and set a course of excellence on our newly restored, state-of-the-art campus.
Eastern Senior High School website: http://www.easternhighschooldc.org/
Giddings Elementary School (Results Gym)
Giddings Elementary School (Results Gym)
Originally built in 1887, the Giddings School was enlarged by a major addition in 1934. The addition included 12 classrooms and an auditorium and was built in the Colonial Revival style.
The J.R. Giddings school is considered a historically significant building due to its role as the first all-black public school in Washington, DC.
The school was sold to the private sector in the 1990s and is now Results Gym.
Lenox Elementary School
Lenox Elementary School
LENOX Elementary School is located at 725 5th St SE ∙ Washington, DC. Students attended this school from Ellen Wilson and Arthur Capper neighborhoods,
before it was renovated into Lenox School Lofts.
Sherman Mills
Photos and Description from Sherman Mills
Phelps High School
According to "What's in a Name" by the Women of the Dove Foundation with support from the DC Humanities Council: The Phelps Vocational School, 704 26th Street NE, was built in 1934 by the Catalan Construction Company. It is a Colonial Revival/Neoclassical style brick building. Originally built as a vocational school for black males, the school accepted black females in 1942 and was renamed the Phelps Career High School. In 1972, a multi-purpose room was added. In 2008, the school received a major overhaul and was renamed the Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School serving students from grades 9-12.
"What's in a Name," Women of the Dove Foundation and DC Humanities Council, http://www.wdchumanities.org/docs/2011DCCHP/DCSchoolsHistandHeritage2011.pdf
Phelps High School 1970 Yearbook (only cover photo is loaded now)
Randall Jr High School
Randall Jr. High School
Randall Junior High School is an historic building at 65 I Street, Southwest, Washington, D.C.The 80,000 s.f. middle school closed in 1978.
It served as a homeless shelter until 2004, and as artist's studios, the Millenium Arts Center.
In 2006, the Corcoran Gallery of Art purchased the building from the City of Washington for $6.2 million.[2] The initial redevelopment with developer Monument Realty LLC fell through. A Telesis/Rubell group plans to redevelop the property beginning in 2012.
Van Ness Elementary School
Van Ness Elementary School
Currently utilized has office space by the DC Public School System, Van Ness Elementary is currently being considered to reopen as an elementary school in the coming years. Van Ness was of the many elementary schools that was in the Arthur Capper Neighborhood that residents children attended..
From: http://www.capitolriverfront.org/go/van-ness-elemenatry-school
WESTERN HIGH SCHOOL
WESTERN HIGH SCHOOL
From the Western High School Alumni Association: Western High School was established in 1890. First classes were held in Curtis School at Potomac and O Streets in Georgetown, with two teachers and 50 students. In October 1897, the school moved to 35th and R Streets NW into what was then a new building. Over the years Western won a national reputation as a school of academic excellence. Arthur Capper high school students were bused to Western in the mid 60's. By the mid 1970’s, however, a declining school age population threatened closure of the majestic but aged building. A new educational program exclusively for performing arts began to use some of the space available at Western.
When the DC School Board made the inevitable decision to close Western with the class of 1977, the grand old building became the home of Washington’s first public school program for the arts.
Western High School Alumni Association, http://westernhighschool-dc.org/