Yakima Schools history

Adams School was built in 1907, and was called the Fairview school as it was located in the southeastern part of Yakima in what was known as the Fairview District.

In 1909, H.M. Gilbert and Clyde H. Richey started clearing land for 200 acres of apple and pear trees.

About 1916 the school Board purchased the property north of the school, and the sagebrush was cleared off giving the school one of the largest playgrounds in the city.

From its humble beginnings in 1927 in central Yakima, on a narrow dirt road with no sidewalks, Franklin Middle School has evolved into a beautiful campus, surrounded by Franklin Park.

Benjamin Franklin School was originally built as a junior high school in 1928, on the site of an old apple orchard.

In the Spring of 1933 it was voted to dissolve the joint organization and elections were held for each school with the new officers for Adams school as follows: President Mrs.

In March, 1934, the ladies gave the Council Luncheon in the old upstairs office.

Owing to ill health, Miss McKinney found it necessary to retire in February, 1947, after forty-two years in the teaching profession, of which thirty-six years had been in Yakima.

The next year Miss Calla Whiteley of Madison School served as principal at Adams, but in September, 1948, when the new Hoover School was opened, she went to take charge of it.

Lewis & Clark Junior High was built in 1966.

Classes began for 449 students in the new school in September of 1967 with Earl Knuth serving as principal.

Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center (YV-TECH) began its operation in 1977 with six programs; today that number has increased to twenty-three programs.

Franklin became a middle school in 1986 and remains one today, with an enrollment of almost 900 students.

In 1994, voters approved a $49 million bond issue.

The project began in the summer of 1995.