Central Junior High School - Cub Yearbook (Kansas City, KS)

Page 13 text:

EEQEEIEIFFIEI E EEE : In 1916 It Looked This Way! It may come as a surprise to some of you to know that when this school was planned fifty years ago in 1915, it was considered quite an innovation, a novelty, in fact, more or less an experiment. It was to be the only school of its kind west of the Mississippi River and one of fewer than a hundred in the entire country. There were several reasons Kansas City was chosen as a site for a jun- ior high school. Mr. M. E. Pearson, superintendent of schools, had taught in the city since 1886 and had been superintendent since 1902. He knew the people and what they needed from their schools. He had felt for a long time that the rigid academic curriculum ofthe seventh and eighth grades had too little appeal for the ordinary boy. Kansas City, he said, was an industrial city, and most of its young peo- ple planned to go into industry, not into a profession. An industrial high high school was his dream, but an impractical one. When Mr. Pearson studied the setup of the new intermediate schools, known as junior high schools, he felt he had found the solution to the problem of holding children in school until at least the ninth grade. So by this dream of 1915, the project was under way.

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4 isinrg nf Qleniral cjuninr 4 iglj 1915 - 1955 Some people who are very important to both Central's past and present are shown in the above picture. Mr. F. L. Schlagle, Superintent Emeritus of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools and onetime Central faculty member and vice -principal, Mr. Walter R. McGregor, Central's present principalg Mrs. Donald Sorenson, president of Central's PTAg Mr. R. C. Johnson and Mr. J. C. Shankland both former principals of Central. E111 Qsppreniaiinn It is not easy to compile the history of a school especially when that school is fifty years old. ln the following pages you will find a fairly concise and com- prehensive history of Central Junior High School. This history is the work of Miss Nellie McGuinn. Miss McGuinn, is a former teacher in the public schools of this city, and she has made ahobby out ot compiling histories of local institutions. We are very grateful to her for the history she has compiled of Central and for the permission to reprint this history in our yearbook. A great deal of Work has gone into the preparation of this history and everyone at Central is deeply indebt- ed to Miss McGuinn for preserving the past events of our school. The editorial staff

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