28/Sep/2008
Then and Now: Building Louisiana’s
Best School System
By Pat Friedrich
Benjamin Franklin once said: “The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance.”
No doubt the Zachary Community must agree because throughout its long history, the townspeople of Zachary have always promoted education.
Reciting the history of schools in Zachary is really a lesson on variety. Zachary has had private schools, one-room schoolhouses, schools for a few students, and home schooling. There were schools with strange names like the Hard Scrabble School that operated in the 1880’s near the intersection of the Pride-Port Hudson and Wicker Roads. Even the length of the school year varried depending on the crop season.
Unmarried Teachers
In the 1800’s and early 1900’s, most teachers were not college graduates. Some had two years of college and some, a high school diploma. Teachers were not married. They sometimes lived at the homes of their students or in boarding houses. Their salaries were quite a bit lower than today’s rate.
According to Zachary Faces & Places, in 1877 the salary for teachers was approximately $30 per month for twenty pupils and $8 more for five additional pupils. By 1902, teachers received a much deserved raise of five dollars per month and by 1914 the one room school house teacher was paid approximately forty dollars per month. That same year, the principal of Zachary High School earned a whopping one hundred dollars per month.
One of the early public schools was located on what is now the Pride-Port Hudson Road. The year was 1909 and classes were held in what had been an old store. One room was devoted to the school. Another smaller room in back of the store was used for students to store their coats and saddles if they rode to school on horseback.
The first time a “Zachary School” is discussed in the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board minutes was in April of 1887, when Dorance Penny was hired as a teacher. This first school board run school was actually in her home or in the nearby Presbyterian Church located where the present day Presbyterian Church is found. Although there is nothing official, many believe the school next moved near the corner of Virginia and Florida Streets. By 1900 two teachers were employed.
Bigger School Needed
With the growth of the community came the need for a bigger school. On July 18, 1901, the town of Zachary and the Plains Lodge bought property together and built a two-story building. The first floor was used as a school and the second floor as the Masonic Lodge. Hurricane damage in 1909 was not enough to stop learning from occurring. The building was not only rebuilt, but expanded to include two more classrooms. The school provided students with a first grade through tenth grade education. Students who went on to earn a diploma attended Baton Rouge High School.
It wasn’t until 1913 that the Zachary School was renamed Zachary Agricultural High School, and in 1914 it was placed on the list of state-approved high schools. It is the third oldest school in East Baton Rouge Parish following Baton Rouge High which was approved in 1906 and Central High in 1912.
The last senior class to graduate from the old Masonic lodge building was in 1915. In 1916, the school moved to its then “modern” two-story frame building located at the current site. This was in fact the first Zachary school that was completely owned by the school board. A large plantation bell called the students to class.
The first known school for African Americans was also a one-room school held in the Little Star Baptist Church. Lillie Bee W. Shows remembers going to the school. “There was one room and each teacher took a corner,” she says. “I walked three miles to get there.”
Third or Fourth Grade
Jessie Spears remembers how many of the students came from miles around to attend. “Most of the kids were needed in the fields, so the school year lasted only three or four months. If they were lucky, they made it to third or fourth grade,” says Spears.
In 1934, the Rosenwald Colored School opened on Old Slaughter Road. It is believed to have been named for Julius Rosenwald, the CEO of Sears Roebuck and Company, who in the early 1900’s donated money for over 372 schools for African Americans in Louisiana and throughout the south. In the greater Baton Rouge area, there were once ten “Rosenwald schools”. Rosenwald provided money to fund the schools, and John Sebastian Jones, Southern University's first dean when it was moved from New Orleans to Scotlandville, went out and found the land for the schools, teachers and the other essentials needed to run the schools. The Union Baptist Church building was used as an overflow to the Rosenwald School.
Spears never rode a school bus. “I walked to Little Star for my first grade and then to the Rosenwald School through the eighth grade.” To get a high school diploma, African American students had two options; find a way to McKinley High School or Southern Lab School. “I rode the train to Southern Lab.”
In 1951 Northwestern Junior High School opened for African American students. It began with grades 1-9 and each year, another grade was added. It was used like that until integration finally arrived.
Integration in 1970
The city of Zachary planned for integration in 1969 and began with the 1970 school year. There was some talk about dividing Zachary into two districts with two high schools, but the wisdom of Zachary’s leaders prevailed. Northwestern became the junior high for all students, and Zachary High School, became the senior high school for all students. That decision is what Jesse Spears attributes to today’s success.
Jerry Boudreaux, the first principal of the newly integrated high school agrees. “We did something that no one else ever did. We integrated our schools without changing the geographical makeup.” Boudreaux says that the ultimate reason for success was due to the unconditional support by Zachary businesses and the Zachary people.
Today, the Zachary school system has expanded this educational model. The people of Zachary thought it made sense in the 1970’s and the large majority think it makes sense now, according to Spears. In addition to the one middle school and one high school, today the children of Zachary rotate together through the three elementary schools. “The children grow up together, go to school together and get along.” says Spears.
Visit any of the five schools found in the City of Zachary, and it is clear that the Community School Board is continuing the proud history of making Zachary schools, the very best. From renovated classrooms, to brand new buildings, and new schools, Zachary schools continue to expand to meet the needs of the community and of today’s children and future generations of children. It all adds up to Zachary being the number one school system in Louisiana.
Construction Status Report:
Northwestern Elementary School
The school houses Pre K, kindergarten and first grade. Principal Martha Davis says that the Pre-K Center, the eight new classrooms, Quad Area and new media center make this school an outstanding place to learn.
Zachary Elementary School
The school houses second and third grades. Principal Jennifer Marangos says that the new building containing additional classrooms was critical to her school’s growing population. The media center that replaced the existing smaller library has state of the art technology with its star board (interactive boards). The boards can be used to display images directly from a computer and for dry-erase writing.
Copper Mill Elementary School
This brand new school houses fourth and fifth grades. After just two years the school system has found it necessary to add twelve new classrooms to address Zachary’s anticipated population increase.
Principal Dewey Davis describes Copper Mill as, “Incredible.” He says Copper Mill School does not look like any school he has ever seen. “The students love being here,” says Davis.
Davis is very excited about another addition that will soon be made. It is a 1.3 acre storm water retention pond. As the result of a grant, students will get a brand new outdoor classroom complete with a deck, classroom observation points, and fish. What was meant to be used only as protection against water pollution will become a fantastic tool for learning.
Northwestern Middle School
Principal Debbie Bryan raves about Northwestern Middle School’s new gymnasium. Automatic bleachers, air conditioning, and acoustically engineered, programs are a joy to watch, she said. Northwestern also has a fantastic “black box” drama room where walls, ceiling, and floor are all painted black. The results are better sets, better lighting, and most important, better prepared students.
Bryan says the entire school is, “Beyond belief.”
Zachary High School
When completed Zachary High School will have:
• New academic athletic center
• New agriculture center
• New classrooms (addition)
• New Performing Arts Auditorium and a
• Stadium addition.
By Pat Friedrich
Benjamin Franklin once said: “The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance.”
No doubt the Zachary Community must agree because throughout its long history, the townspeople of Zachary have always promoted education.
Reciting the history of schools in Zachary is really a lesson on variety. Zachary has had private schools, one-room schoolhouses, schools for a few students, and home schooling. There were schools with strange names like the Hard Scrabble School that operated in the 1880’s near the intersection of the Pride-Port Hudson and Wicker Roads. Even the length of the school year varried depending on the crop season.
Unmarried Teachers
In the 1800’s and early 1900’s, most teachers were not college graduates. Some had two years of college and some, a high school diploma. Teachers were not married. They sometimes lived at the homes of their students or in boarding houses. Their salaries were quite a bit lower than today’s rate.
According to Zachary Faces & Places, in 1877 the salary for teachers was approximately $30 per month for twenty pupils and $8 more for five additional pupils. By 1902, teachers received a much deserved raise of five dollars per month and by 1914 the one room school house teacher was paid approximately forty dollars per month. That same year, the principal of Zachary High School earned a whopping one hundred dollars per month.
One of the early public schools was located on what is now the Pride-Port Hudson Road. The year was 1909 and classes were held in what had been an old store. One room was devoted to the school. Another smaller room in back of the store was used for students to store their coats and saddles if they rode to school on horseback.
The first time a “Zachary School” is discussed in the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board minutes was in April of 1887, when Dorance Penny was hired as a teacher. This first school board run school was actually in her home or in the nearby Presbyterian Church located where the present day Presbyterian Church is found. Although there is nothing official, many believe the school next moved near the corner of Virginia and Florida Streets. By 1900 two teachers were employed.
Bigger School Needed
With the growth of the community came the need for a bigger school. On July 18, 1901, the town of Zachary and the Plains Lodge bought property together and built a two-story building. The first floor was used as a school and the second floor as the Masonic Lodge. Hurricane damage in 1909 was not enough to stop learning from occurring. The building was not only rebuilt, but expanded to include two more classrooms. The school provided students with a first grade through tenth grade education. Students who went on to earn a diploma attended Baton Rouge High School.
It wasn’t until 1913 that the Zachary School was renamed Zachary Agricultural High School, and in 1914 it was placed on the list of state-approved high schools. It is the third oldest school in East Baton Rouge Parish following Baton Rouge High which was approved in 1906 and Central High in 1912.
The last senior class to graduate from the old Masonic lodge building was in 1915. In 1916, the school moved to its then “modern” two-story frame building located at the current site. This was in fact the first Zachary school that was completely owned by the school board. A large plantation bell called the students to class.
The first known school for African Americans was also a one-room school held in the Little Star Baptist Church. Lillie Bee W. Shows remembers going to the school. “There was one room and each teacher took a corner,” she says. “I walked three miles to get there.”
Third or Fourth Grade
Jessie Spears remembers how many of the students came from miles around to attend. “Most of the kids were needed in the fields, so the school year lasted only three or four months. If they were lucky, they made it to third or fourth grade,” says Spears.
In 1934, the Rosenwald Colored School opened on Old Slaughter Road. It is believed to have been named for Julius Rosenwald, the CEO of Sears Roebuck and Company, who in the early 1900’s donated money for over 372 schools for African Americans in Louisiana and throughout the south. In the greater Baton Rouge area, there were once ten “Rosenwald schools”. Rosenwald provided money to fund the schools, and John Sebastian Jones, Southern University's first dean when it was moved from New Orleans to Scotlandville, went out and found the land for the schools, teachers and the other essentials needed to run the schools. The Union Baptist Church building was used as an overflow to the Rosenwald School.
Spears never rode a school bus. “I walked to Little Star for my first grade and then to the Rosenwald School through the eighth grade.” To get a high school diploma, African American students had two options; find a way to McKinley High School or Southern Lab School. “I rode the train to Southern Lab.”
In 1951 Northwestern Junior High School opened for African American students. It began with grades 1-9 and each year, another grade was added. It was used like that until integration finally arrived.
Integration in 1970
The city of Zachary planned for integration in 1969 and began with the 1970 school year. There was some talk about dividing Zachary into two districts with two high schools, but the wisdom of Zachary’s leaders prevailed. Northwestern became the junior high for all students, and Zachary High School, became the senior high school for all students. That decision is what Jesse Spears attributes to today’s success.
Jerry Boudreaux, the first principal of the newly integrated high school agrees. “We did something that no one else ever did. We integrated our schools without changing the geographical makeup.” Boudreaux says that the ultimate reason for success was due to the unconditional support by Zachary businesses and the Zachary people.
Today, the Zachary school system has expanded this educational model. The people of Zachary thought it made sense in the 1970’s and the large majority think it makes sense now, according to Spears. In addition to the one middle school and one high school, today the children of Zachary rotate together through the three elementary schools. “The children grow up together, go to school together and get along.” says Spears.
Visit any of the five schools found in the City of Zachary, and it is clear that the Community School Board is continuing the proud history of making Zachary schools, the very best. From renovated classrooms, to brand new buildings, and new schools, Zachary schools continue to expand to meet the needs of the community and of today’s children and future generations of children. It all adds up to Zachary being the number one school system in Louisiana.
Construction Status Report:
Northwestern Elementary School
The school houses Pre K, kindergarten and first grade. Principal Martha Davis says that the Pre-K Center, the eight new classrooms, Quad Area and new media center make this school an outstanding place to learn.
Zachary Elementary School
The school houses second and third grades. Principal Jennifer Marangos says that the new building containing additional classrooms was critical to her school’s growing population. The media center that replaced the existing smaller library has state of the art technology with its star board (interactive boards). The boards can be used to display images directly from a computer and for dry-erase writing.
Copper Mill Elementary School
This brand new school houses fourth and fifth grades. After just two years the school system has found it necessary to add twelve new classrooms to address Zachary’s anticipated population increase.
Principal Dewey Davis describes Copper Mill as, “Incredible.” He says Copper Mill School does not look like any school he has ever seen. “The students love being here,” says Davis.
Davis is very excited about another addition that will soon be made. It is a 1.3 acre storm water retention pond. As the result of a grant, students will get a brand new outdoor classroom complete with a deck, classroom observation points, and fish. What was meant to be used only as protection against water pollution will become a fantastic tool for learning.
Northwestern Middle School
Principal Debbie Bryan raves about Northwestern Middle School’s new gymnasium. Automatic bleachers, air conditioning, and acoustically engineered, programs are a joy to watch, she said. Northwestern also has a fantastic “black box” drama room where walls, ceiling, and floor are all painted black. The results are better sets, better lighting, and most important, better prepared students.
Bryan says the entire school is, “Beyond belief.”
Zachary High School
When completed Zachary High School will have:
• New academic athletic center
• New agriculture center
• New classrooms (addition)
• New Performing Arts Auditorium and a
• Stadium addition.
