SCHOOL DISTRICT OF GRAND IS history

Newly arrived in the village of Grand Rapids in 1839, young Joseph Hinsdill Galusha became the first teacher in the new schoolhouse.

On May 1, 1847, Mss Eliza Powell began teaching her class of 10 students for two dollars a week.

At approximately the same time that the Stone School was constructed on the east side of the river, in 1849, a one-story wooden structure was built in the less populated District No.

The original organization of the Lansing School District came as a provision of the Lansing City Charter of 1861.

In the early days following 1871, the affairs of the public schools and the affairs of the City were to a great extent interwoven in that the budget adopted by the School Board had to be submitted to the City fathers for approval.

History of the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan (With an appendix--History of Lowell, Michigan). New York, Grand Rapids: Munsell & company, 1891.

About Florence HillFlorence Hill Elementary is the oldest elementary in Grand Prairie ISD. Actually, Florence Hill was here before there was a Grand Prairie ISD! Florence and Hill were two communities who came together to form a school in 1898.

"The first school at the Grand Canyon was started July 10, 1911, one year before Statehood.

The 1914-15 school year opened with 29 pupils.

In 1916, the county built the next school with county funds.

Grand Canyon Village's first permanent schoolhouse was bought by Bert Lauzon in 1917 and it was moved to his homestead where it stands today.

On June 26, 1920, the Board moved all its offices from the City Hall, the North Division School and the East Junior College Building to the fifth floor of a new addition to the then George A Davis Vocational and Technical High School Building, which later became the West Junior College Building.

Because of the continued growth of the community and the establishment of a junior high school at the present high school site, a third new high school building was constructed at 5th Street and Elm in 1925.

One of the factors responsible for the construction of the administrative offices was that in 1927 the City Commission imposed a rental fee of $5,000 per year for the use of the space in City Hall, which prior to that time was rent free.

With the help of Senator Carl Hayden and other congressman and the Park Service, funds were secured for the present elementary school which was finished in 1940.

In the early days following 1871, the affairs of the public schools and the affairs of the City were to a great extent interwoven in that the budget adopted by the School Board had to be submitted to the City fathers for approval. As a result of legislation adopted in 1962, the laws providing that the boundaries of the City and the school district be coterminous were repealed.

Aerial view of Grand Island Senior High taken on May 6, 1983, looking southwest (Photo by Hal Maggiore)