Wichita Public Schools history

Upon his death in 1915, the land was divided up and the school district purchased the pasture at Central and Hydraulic.

Horace Mann History: Horace Mann opened for school in the fall of 1918 as Horace Mann Intermediate School , one of the first junior high schools west of the Mississippi River.

A bond election was held December 1, 1953, and the bond issue was carried by an overwhelming majority.

In the fall of 1964, the seventh, eighth and ninth grade pupils from Arkansas Avenue School were assigned to this building, and the fifth and sixth grades were housed in the original Pleasant Valley South building.

Remodeling of the library, offices and corridors was completed in 1976.

The school opened in September 1977 with an enrollment of 386 pupils, including grades six, seven and eight.

In the fall of 1988, all ninth graders were moved to high schools leaving seventh and eighth graders.

In 1989 Horace Mann was combined with Irving and Park Elementary Schools to become a foreign language magnet elementary school with grades 3-5 housed at Irving and Park.

Washington School also became an early center for the educable mentally handicapped program in the Wichita Public Schools and continued until 1990 when the program was moved to another site to make room for students of gifted education and bilingual education.

The bond celebration for the new school was held August 21, 2003.