Page by Charlotte Childs (a member of the RMS Legacy Team), and edited by Charles McKrola Dey
This page is still in process
Roosevelt Middle School, originally a junior high, was opened in the fall of 1925 to 160 students. (Because it was a junior high at that time, Roosevelt had seventh, eighth, and ninth graders as its students, but no sixth graders. At that time sixth graders still went to various grade schools.) It had been officially named Theodore Roosevelt Junior High in the spring of the previous year (1924), partly due to the recommendation of the Eugene Post of the American Legion. The junior high was a two-story brick building with Margret Halvorsen serving as the first principal. It was founded to serve the east side of Eugene, and was originally located at the corner Agate and 18th. The student population doubled to around 320 students by 1930, and that number stayed in between 300 and 400 during the next two decades.
For the first couple of years, Roosevelt Junior High was taught much like a high school. It was important to get good grades, so students with outstanding grades got a special blue report card. Their names were printed into the Rough Rider (the school newspaper). The students were later included into an honor society when it formed in 1930. Roosevelt was eventually placed in the National Junior High Honor Society in 1934.
By the year 1931, there had already been three different principals: after Margret Halvorsen there was James Notter and after that, Harold Allison. These first few principals created close and important ties with the University of Oregon School of Education. Roosevelt and the U of O worked closely together to provide training for teachers, much like the student teacher program we have today. Roosevelt students in turn were able to use many different University facilities and most Roosevelt graduates went on to the University High School. (This tradition continued until University High was closed in 1953.)
During the 1931-32 school year, the Roosevelt program started to change, in some ways becoming more and more like the middle school we know today. Wendell L. VanLoan became the principal that year, and he changed the curriculum drastically. One of the major changes was in social studies. Social studies had previously been an elective for 9th graders, but became a required course for all students that year. Literature, grammar, and spelling became one English class, where as previously they had been taught separately. Eventually, no electives were offered to any pupils in any grade. In an article I read, Mildred Williams (a previous Roosevelt teacher) described an average student’s day:
“Pupils took art and music on alternate days; industrial arts and home economics alternated with mathematics; science alternated with physical education; and general language, which replaced electives in French and Latin, alternated with orientation. French, Latin, German, and Spanish were introduced in the general language course.”
Even though Principal VanLoan decided to abolish the elective program, he also decided to create an extensive counseling program. On one day each week, a period was set aside for a counselor meeting. Principal VanLoan explained in an article I read – the same one as last time – that:
“When the departmental system is used in junior high schools it is necessary for the students’ interests to be looked after by one person, and that person should be the counselor.”
Although there were no electives, four days a week there was an “activity” period. Students could choose from 27 different clubs or activities to participate in during that class period. The students could therefore take part in an activity, without having to stay after school.
There are obviously many different differences between the Roosevelt then, and this current Roosevelt. Another difference between the two is that grades were given in 9-week segments instead of every 12-weeks like they are now. The original Roosevelt didn’t have mid-trimester grades (progress reports), either.
All of the different changes happening at Roosevelt in the 1930’s got the attention of the state. In fact, some of the changes happening were explained to other principals at a Junior High Principals’ Conference meeting in May of 1940, hosted in Salem, Oregon.
In the spring of 1941, Roosevelt Junior High School became the first junior high in Oregon to be evaluated by the Oregon State Department of Education. As usual, it got an excellent rating.
Ninth graders at Roosevelt Junior High were called “seniors.” They were graduated at MacArthur Court (on the University of Oregon campus) along with the students from Wilson Junior High (which was open to the population of the west side of Eugene) and Eugene High School (which served for all of Eugene), until 1935. After that time the graduations were held in Roosevelt’s own auditorium. The graduations were very important to Roosevelt until the late 1960’s.
Seventh graders that were entering Roosevelt participated in an initiation program, much like the CORE and WEB programs we have had in recent years.
Athletic activities have always been very important to Roosevelt. For the boys there were inter-school contests held in football, basketball, baseball, and track. The games were held against many other junior highs, including Wilson Junior High, St. Mary’s Catholic, Springfield, Salem, Roseburg, Corvallis, and Cottage Grove. The girls had a similar extra-curricular program, but it was less extensive.
David Mortimore became principal at Roosevelt in the year 1965, and decided to make even more changes to the school’s curriculum. Over the next couple of years, he gathered together a staff team interested in the same changes he was. Under the new principal’s leadership, the staff and administration developed a new philosophy of education. During the school years of 1967-1969, experimental classes were taught and evaluated. Over the summer of 1969, Roosevelt teachers produced a philosophy statement and way to implement it. The program that they came up with was approved by 4J directors and the Oregon State Board of Education, and it want into operation at the beginning of the 1969-1970 school year.
During the 1969-70 school year, David Mortimore got leave from the district. Donald Jackson became acting principal, and, during January 1970, Jackson was appointed principal. He helped the program grow through it’s developmental stages and into its status as an alternative education program.
The new program was built on motivation, scholarship, and creativity, as well as of helping students find their potential. It was also a goal to help students understand that they were responsible for their own learning in the long run. Unlike the previous changes made by Wendell VanLoan when he was principal, the curriculum became fully elective. Students worked with their parents and advisor to create a schedule which best met their needs and interests. The Roosevelt schedule catalog for 1981-82, had descriptions of 279 separate nine-week courses that students could choose from. students were encouraged to take classes that would help them grow and make continuous progress. Roosevelt also did not assign letter grades. Instead, students were given a written evaluation for the work they did in those nine weeks.
Roosevelt was different from other Eugene junior highs in another way: they had a longer day. Part of the added time was devoted to the guide period which was the central of the Roosevelt program. The program helped the students discover and weigh alternatives, make choices, and accept the consequences. The Roosevelt program was visited by hundreds of people throughout the state and country, and it served as a role model for junior highs, not only in the Eugene area, but also in the surrounding communities.
The new Roosevelt program was attractive to the other students in the Eugene area. Because of this, Roosevelt had up to 220 transfer students each year. At one time, the building housed 875 students.
After 1976 (when Donald Jackson left), there were a serious of different principals, all who continued to promote the program. The succeeding principals were Wayne Flynn, Pam Inskeep, and Ted Calhoun. Principal Calhoun worked with staff when he became principal in 1983, to create a middle school program.
In 1983, when Roosevelt officially became a middle school, it had a total of thirty three classrooms, including three shops. There were three gyms, a cafeteria, a band room, a small theater, a library media center, and several small group work areas.
thats nice
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