1950
1950
A map showing the Lowell school grounds and surrounding neighborhood, as it looked in 1950. N. 13th st went all the way through, and houses remained on either side of the street. The outline of the old building can be seen, though it has been covered up due to it having been torn down.
JANUARY 1, 1950
Caption: New Lowell School Started – Work on the new $325,000 Lowell school, replacing the building which was condemned and torn down following the April 13 earthquake, was begun late last week. The architects’ drawing at the top will give readers an idea of what the new 12-classroom building will look like when completed. A power shovel is shown in the lower picture as it began excavation work for the Bonnell Construction Co., general contractors on the new building. Plans for the structure were drawn by Lance, McGuire and Muri. The building is expected to be completed in time for the opening of school in the fall. Lower photo by News Tribune staff photographer.
FEBRUARY 18, 1950
Permits are issued for the new building.
[TRANSCRIPTION]
Issue Permit for New Lowell School – A permit for construction of a building to replace Lowell school, damaged by the disastrous earthquake last spring, was issued to Tacoma School district No. 10 Friday.
The grade school, located at 1211 No. I St., was razed and construction of a new building is underway. The estimated cost of the new building is $205,000. Work will be undertaken by the Bonnell Construction company.
APRIL 19, 1950
Caption: Two workmen standing on scaffolding are removing plywood forms from a ceiling at Lowell School. April 19, 1950
MAY 22, 1950
Lowell under construction, May 22, 1950
AUGUST 17, 1950
Caption: This Is Lowell Today – A far cry from the high old-fashioned Lowell grade school is the streamlined new structure now nearing completion on the old site, No. 12th St. and Yakima Ave. It won’t be finished for school opening, but Lowell hopes to collect its scattered classes here by late autumn. It is of concrete, houses 12 classrooms, every modern facility. – News Tribune staff photo.
AUGUST 17, 1950
The new Lowell building is on schedule to be open by early winter.
[TRANSCRIPTION]
Also scheduled for early winter occupancy is the new Lowell school, No. 13th St. and Yakima Ave., which replaces the pioneer building torn down recently. It was hoped to have seven classrooms ready for the first day but materials have been delayed, so the makeshift arrangement of last season will prevail temporarily.
Lowell will have 12 classrooms and all the features of the other new buildings, except that it is partially two-story to conserve playground space. When the new building is ready, the houses on the west side, which are now serving as classrooms, will be removed. Lowell is costing $407,849.52, is a concrete structure with large wall areas of glass blocks for light.
SEPTEMBER 4, 1950
Teacher list for the 1950-51 school year.
DECEMBER 10, 1950
Caption: Christen Classrooms of Tomorrow – Lucky youngsters christened part of the classrooms at ultramodern Lowell school in the past week, and are enjoying their new style individual portable work tables, with matching blond chairs. Mrs. Walter West’s fourth grade, above, enjoys one of the two new pianos, for which she is upper grade music teacher. Outside walls of opaque glass blocks diffuse daylight. Walls are soft green pumice block; ceilings, acoustic material; lights, waffle-grid fluorescent; woodwork, blond with linoleum to match. Each room has spacious cupboards, floors, hobby and book shelves; bulletin board and double sink. Part of lights, blackboards and shades are yet to come. Cloak rooms have given way to lockers in new grade school. There will be 12 classrooms, library, reception rooms, offices, Red Cross room, lunchroom and huge play area, all to be done by February, according to Principal C. E. Monson. – News Tribune staff photo.
1951
FEBRUARY 16, 1951
Lowell as seen on February 16, 1951, around the time the building was completed.
APRIL 27, 1951
MAY 27, 1951
Caption: The sun’s glare and excess moisture have created problems at the newly constructed Lowell school, which has not yet been accepted by the school board. It’s [sic] main wing runs northwest-southeast, with the windows on the southwest side facing the brightest sun of the day, left above. The glare has been unpleasant. Arrow in right hand picture points to ventilation ports that were cut into the foundation of the west wing after ground moisture cracked the floor in this wing.
[TRANSCRIPTION]
Tacoma School Building Costs Analyzed – Structures Based on Latest Designs – by Paul O. Anderson (Excerpt)
There is some feeling it would not have been necessary to rebuild Edison, Willard or Lowell schools after the earthquake…. In the case of Lowell, removal of the tower and top floor might have made it serviceable for several years. But considerable pressure was put on the school board and feeling ran high, so the buildings finally were condemned.
Glass Brick Loses
Many have been critical of the glass brick used in a number of the new schools. In some respects the problem is academic, since the Tacoma school board and the state no longer are calling for the brick.
But a number of new schools have the brick and it poses a glare and heat problem. This writer has stood in rooms with southern and western exposures during the recent sunny days, and the glare has been most unpleasant. The inside of the bricks heat up until they are very warm.
For the pupils the glare is minimized by turning the seats away from the windows, but it is hard on the teachers. Drapes are being placed across the lower three feet of the window space, which is of standard glass. It might be possible to paint several of the lower rows of glass bricks to decrease brightness.
Lowell school has several problems. The question of whether one or two boilers should have been installed was booted around for a time. Theory of the idea is that one boiler is more efficient and cheaper to install, but two boilers would provide flexibility and would provide long-time economy of oneration. No one seems to have comparative figures to prove either point. The school at present has one larger boiler.
Floors Buckled
More recently the floors in the west wing have buckled from ground moisture. The building was constructed during the winter and the earth, of course, was wet. No provision was made in the foundation wall for ventilating openings, and after the building was completed ground moisture came through the floor. A crack runs down the middle of one floor and holes were drilled in several places to permit the moist air to come through. Holes also have been knocked in the side of the foundation. Only the west wing, which was built over the open ground, was affected. School officials say the damage is not serious. The building has not yet been accepted from the contractor.
AUGUST 31, 1951
Teacher list for the 1951-52 school year.
NOVEMBER 10, 1951
A dedication program for the new Lowell school building is planned. Past and present students are invited to attend.
[TRANSCRIPTION]
Dedication At Lowell – A dedication program for the new Lowell elementary school is scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m. All Lowell graduates have been invited to attend. The new building replaces the old Lowell school which was in use from 1893 until condemned after the earthquake of 1949.
The invocation will be given by the Rev. Walter O. Macoskey, pastor of the First Baptist church. Highlights of the program will be a speech, “Down Memory Lane,” by E. H. Butler, retired public school principal, who attended Lowell in 1895; a skit, “School Days Past and Present,” presented by the first grade students and songs by the fifth grade chorus.
A plaque in memory of Marvin Klegban [sic], Lowell schoolboy patrol who was killed in the earthquake, will be presented to Clarence Monson, principal of the school. A flag which has flown over the national capitol has been sent to the school by a former student, U.S. Sen. Harry P. Cain, and will be presented after the formal acceptance of the building from the architects by A. H. Blankenship, superintendent of public schools.
The program will be followed by a tour of the building, with members of the P.T.A. acting as guides. After the tour, refreshments will be served. Mrs. James Anderson, president of the P.T.A. will act as chairman of the program.
NOVEMBER 11, 1951
Caption: Something New – The beauty of the new Lowell school is no surprise to the Gordon youngsters, Martha, left, and Mary Lynn, but to Mrs. Edith Norton Gordon, their grandmother, who went to Lowell the year it opened, 1892, it is quite a change from the old landmark. Between the time the grandmother and granddaughters attended Lowell, so did the girls’ father, Norton Gordon, right. Dedication of the school will be held Monday at 8 p.m. – Richards Photo.
NOVEMBER 30, 1951
Caption: The interior of one of the classrooms at Lowell School showing the visual aid furniture. Elementary school students sit on the floor to watch while a young teacher displays paintings from an easel made of plywood. Artwork is also displayed on the wall behind the easel. Ordered by Douglas Fir Plywood Association. TPL-8334
DECEMBER 18, 1951
Caption: A new electric stove has been installed in the kitchen at Lowell School. December 18, 1951
1952
JANUARY 12, 1952
JANUARY 31, 1952
A spaghetti dinner and Valentine carnival are planned. There will be a bake sale, fish pond, Valentine booth, movies, a magician, and concessions.
AUGUST 30, 1952
Teacher list for the 1952-53 school year.
DECEMBER 23, 1952
1953
FEBRUARY 4, 1953
Caption: The Lowell School PTA and Preschool were preparing for the upcoming February 7, 1954 Mardi Gras/Carnival. Helping out were: (left to right) Mrs. James Byers, general co-chairpoerson Mrs. George Loring; Sharon Buxton; Mrs. Charles Longstreth; and general co-chair Mrs. Lars Jensen. Sign painter was Davy Wright. Balloons, clowns and games would serve as entertainment with the “New Orleans Court Cafe” open for sandwiches and pastries and a school talent show offered hourly. (TNT 2-4-1953, p. 20)
JULY 1953
Lowell, July 1953
AUGUST 29, 1953
Teacher list for the 1953-54 school year.
OCTOBER 20, 1953
Caption: Lowell students and their principal prepare for a howling good time at the ’53 Halloween Carnival. The Lowell School Parent-Teacher and Preschool Association sponsored a school carnival on Friday October 23, 1953. Pictured left to right are Sammie Warren, Nancy Conly, principal Clarence Monson, Andy Levesque, Tommy Rowland and Judith Sleep. With his chef’s hat and apron, Principal Monson looks as if he’ll be manning the hot dog grill. The carnival midway had over 30 booths including fun booths where students could throw darts at balloons or shoes at stuffed animals; food booths with ice cream, hot dogs and pop corn; and craft booths where they could make decorations or put on make-up. (TNT 10/20/1953, pg. A-11)
OCTOBER 21, 1953
1954
APRIL 9, 1954
Caption: Marble Tourney – Clarence Monson, left, principal of Lowell Elementary School, and Bill Gregory, of the Tacoma Young Men’s Business Club, demonstrate techniques of marble shooting to Ray Wagner and Bill Kelly, finalists in the Lowell School marble tournament. Winner will represent Lowell in the City marble tournament set for Saturday at 1 p.m. in Athletic Park. The tourney, held in conjunction with this year’s Daffodil Festival, will attract entrants from all the elementary schools in the area. The contest is sponsored jointly by the Tacoma Park and School Board Recreation Department and the Y.M.B.C.
AUGUST 15, 1954
Caption: Play Area Becomes Classroom – Percy Webber, custodian, checks fit of cupboard doors in one of two new classrooms being built by school maintenance men at Lowell Elementary School. The rooms, needed to keep up with increasing enrollment at Lowell, will be ready for students by the time school opens Sept. 8. Ten such classrooms are being built in basement play areas in Tacoma schools this summer. Lowell will have 20 classrooms, including five in the play area, this fall.
AUGUST 29, 1954
Teacher list for the 1954-55 school year.
OCTOBER 15, 1954
Caption: On Teachers Union Program – E. Norman Ducker, New Zealand teacher here on a Fulbright exchange scholarship, tells about teaching and unionism in his country as he spoke Thursday before the Tri-County Institute of the American Federation of Teachers at Lowell School. Also on the program, left to right, are Mrs. Martha Cederberg, executive secretary of the Washington Federation of Teachers; Randolph Green, Central Labor Council; the Rev. W. C. Woodhams, Christ Episcopal Church; Leonard Holden, president of Tacoma Local 461, American Federation of Teachers; David R. Tuell, Tacoma schol [sic] board, and Robert Wiley, assistant county school superintendent. – News Tribune staff photo.
1955
FEBRUARY 13, 1955
Photo caption: Prepare for Lowell Reunion – Although things have changed considerably since the good old days when they were in school, four Lowell School alumni quickly reverted to type when they visited the classrooms. Burritt Anderson, right, seems to question Ted Knightlinger’s ability to give the right answer while Mrs. George Williams Jr. and Norton Gordon concentrate on passing notes. The group is preparing for the reunion of Lowell alumni which will be held at the school Thursday at 8 p.m.
[TRANSCRIPTION]
Alumni Will Have Program on Thursday
Lowell School alumni are dusting off their old school ties in anticipation of the reunion which will be held at the school Thursday at 8 p.m.
The program, though ttuned [sic] to the adult mind, will be geared to entertain and ample time will be allowed for reminiscing. All who attended Lowell are invited to share the evening, and are requested to bring any photographs or class pictures they may have in their possession.
Judge Bertil Johnson will be the speaker of the evening and will be introduced by John Anderson who will act as master of ceremonies. The Medicine Men, barbershop quartet, will sing to create a nostalgic atmosphere and Barbara Combs Leary will offer a group of piano selections.
Prizes will be given to the family with the most graduates present at the homecoming; to the one coming from farthest away; to the teacher who taught the longest ago and to the alumna who graduated in the earliest class.
All ex-students of Lowell are urged to attend the event which is being sponsored by the Lowell P-TA.
FEBRUARY 21, 1956
Caption: The Lowell Elementary School PTA sponsored a variety show on February 29, 1956. Two of the acts that evening were a barbershop quartet featuring (l to r) Loren Baker, Phil Jones, Leroy Baldwin and Clarence Monson, the school’s principal; and dancer Millicent Bulatao from the College of Puget Sound. Miss Bulatao, who looks a bit bewildered by the quartet’s harmonies, dressed in Hawaiian attire and a lei to perform several hulas. Proceeds from the variety show and bake sale went toward purchasing equipment for the school. Photograph ordered by Lowell PTA.
APRIL 17, 1955
Caption: Young Typists – These six Lowell School students are part of a group of elementary pupils learning typing and French in addition to regular elementary subjects. Shown at their typewriters are, left to right, first row, Stephen Jeynes and Richard Anderson; second row, Nancy Burkheimer and Bob Trent; and third row, Mike Davenport and Ann Luckenotte. The training is part of the Tacoma school system’s experimental program for gifted children.
AUGUST 25, 1955
Teacher list for the 1955-56 school year.
1956
JUNE 15, 1956
Principal Monson retires. A retirement party will be held at the Top of the Ocean restaurant.
[TRANSCRIPTION]
Dinner Honors C. E. Monson
A no-host dinner honoring Clarence E. Monson, retiring principal of Lowell Elementary School, will be given by parents of his students and friends at the Top of the Ocean next Friday at 7 p.m.
Monson, who will be leaving Tacoma shortly, lived his early years in Wisconsin. He was in the Tacoma school system only six months when Army duty called him to service from 1942-45. Upon his return he was principal first at Dash Point School. He was next transferred to Lowell where he has served nine years as principal.
Reservations should be made by Monday.
AUGUST 30, 1956
1957
AUGUST 28, 1957
DECEMBER 3, 1957
Lowell on December 3, 1957
1958
AUGUST 29, 1958
Teacher list for the 1958-59 school year.
1959
SEPTEMBER 3, 1959
Teacher list for the 1959-60 school year.
Lowell Elementary School History Project 