Livonia Public Schools

Livonia Public Schools is a public school district in southeastern Michigan Metro Detroit area, serving the city of Livonia and portions of Westland. It is one of the top 5 ranked school districts in Michigan. As of the 2006-2007 school year, the district has revised their curriculum to a four-tier system: K-4, 5-6, 7-8 and 9-12 Grade Levels. Prior to 2006, the curriculum was K-6, 7-8 and 9-12 grade levels. During the 1979-1980 school year, 9th graders were moved over to the high schools. Prior to then, junior high schools consisted of grades 7-9 and senior high schools consisted of grades 10-12.

Schools

Preschools

*Jackson Early Childhood Center (1956)

*Perrinville Early Childhood Center (1936)

*Stevenson Preschool - Stevenson High School now houses a preschool program.

Lower Elementary Schools (Grades K-4)

*James Buchanan Elementary School (1966)

*Lewis Cass Elementary School - (1966-67)

*Grover Cleveland Elementary School

*Calvin Coolidge Elementary School (1959)

*Garfield Elementary School

*Grant Elementary School

*Hayes Elementary School

*Hoover Elementary School

*Kennedy Elementary School

*Randolph Elementary School

*Roosevelt Elementary School

*Rosedale Elementary School

*Webster K-6 School - On February 18, 2008, Webster was hit with an arson fire that destroyed the southern wing of the school. 32-year-old Joseph Carlson was found to be the arsonist & arraigned with 5 counts of arson. The Webster School is a K-4 school home to Alternative Classrooms for the Academically Talented (ACAT). Webster is also home to over 100 special needs students.

Webster is now located at the former Tyler school, and the old Webster building will be demolished after it was decided by the district that it would be too costly to rebuild.cite news|title=Webster won't be rebult; it'll take Tyler site|last=Jones|first=Rebecca|date=2008-06-12|publisher=Livonia Observer|pages=A1]

Upper Elementary Schools (Grades 5-6)

*Cooper Upper Elementary School

*Johnson Upper Elementary School

*Riley Upper Elementary School

*Webster K-6 School

Middle Schools (Grades 7-8)

*Emerson Middle School (1954) - This school was named after the American writer and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. This building is a North Central Association School. Mascot-Eagles
*Frost Middle School (1963) - This school was named after Robert Lee Frost, the American poet. In addition to 7th and 8th graders, this building houses the MACAT (Middle Alternative Classrooms for the Academically Talented) program. This building is also a North Central Association School. Mascot-Phantoms
*Holmes Middle School (Dedicated 1966, opened 1967) - This school is named after Oliver Wendell Holmes, a famous physician, poet, & writer. This is also a North Central Association school. Mascot-Hawks

High Schools (Grades 9-12)

*Benjamin Franklin High School

*Adlai E. Stevenson High School

*Winston Churchill High School

Former Schools

* John Adams Elementary School - This school closed at the end of the 2005-2006 school year as part of the district's "Legacy Initiative" plan due to declining student enrollment & budget constraints. Adams underwent a slight renovation in 2008 to become a new early childhood center for the Perrinville Early Childhood Center, which replaced the older facility due to overcrowding.

*Bentley High School (1947) - This district's high school was named after George N. Bentley, a former student and teacher at Elm Elementary School and school board president at the time of the school's groundbreaking.

During May 1983, it was announced that the school would close at the end of the 1984-1985 school year due to declining student enrollment. Since then, the building was used for adult education until the last event took place in May 2002, after which the property would be taken over by the city. Most of the school building would be demolished in 1998, with the exception of the original two story building, later demolished in 2001-2002. The city's new Recreational Center currently stands where Bentley High School once stood.

Today, the only things remaining within the property are the Bentley Track Field, used by the Recreation Center and different sports teams within the City of Livonia and the baseball diamond, used by Madonna University for home games. The recreation center has an adult lounge, where there is an area with pictures and memorabilia of Bentley High School.

The school's colors were green and white and the school's mascot was a bulldog.

* Bryant Junior High School (1961) - This school closed at the end of the 1978-1979 school year, and was eventually demolished. At one point in its lifetime, it was used as a community school, and a driving school. The property currently sits vacant, used as a soccer field.

* Henry Clay Elementary School (1969) - This school closed at the end of the 1984-1985 school year due to declining student enrollment. It currently houses a location for the Livonia Little Tots, a preschool/day care program. Those renting space at Clay were supposed to relocate to the former Taylor School nearby, but were put on hold when the building became the temporary home of Webster K-6 School after an arson fire took place at their school in February 2008.

Once the daycare lease ends and the children relocate, the building could be demolished, left vacant (Provides future options), a future food services building, or a district warehouse.

* Cooper Elementary School (#1, 1940's) - This school closed at the end of the 1965-1966 school year when the new Cooper School(#2)was completed. The building stood vacant for over two decades until its demolition during the early 1990s. A small shopping center and a Burger King restaurant now stand on the site.

* Cooper Elementary School (#2, 1966) - This school was in use from the time it opened until it was discovered in 1991 that it was built on a hazardous waste dump and immediately closed. Up until its demolition in 2005, it was used by the LPS as a storage building, but was quickly shelved by heavy vandalism and arson attempts.

Released in the September 18, 2008 edition of the Livonia Observer, the property is now part of a possible $15 million dollar plan to clean up the site and construct a soccer complex and fields in its place. The developer must still reach an approval with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to clean up the site.

If the plan is approved, construction could begin in March of 2009.

* Dickinson Junior High School (1968) - The building is currently being used by the LPS as the Dickinson Center, an adult education facility.

* Eisenhower Elementary School (1969) - This school closed at the end of the 1977-1978 school year. It is currently the home of the Livonia Career Technical Center.

* Elm Elementary School - This school has been razed. One of the city's fire stations now occupies the site.

* Ford Junior High School (1964) - This school closed at the end of the 1979-1980 school year. It is currently the home of the Western Wayne Skills Center.

* William Henry Harrison Elementary School - This school closed at the end of the 1977-1978 school year and eventually razed for a senior housing complex.

* Hull Elementary School (1961) - This school closed at the end of the 2005-2006 school year as part of a district consolidation plan due to declining enrollment & budget constraints. There are several proposals for the building's future use, but most of Hull's windows are currently boarded up and the school is being used for storage space.

* Andrew Jackson Elementary School (1956) - Converted into a district preschool, currently known as the Jackson Early Childhood Center.

* Thomas Jefferson Elementary School - Despite proposals to save the building for a future school, or a suggestion to make it into a preschool, Jefferson was demolished because it was too small to be considered of any value to the district.

* Abraham Lincoln Elementary School - This school has been razed, and neighborhood houses now stand on the site.

* Lowell Junior High School - This building is the current home of Johnson Upper Elementary School.

* James Madison Elementary School - This school closed at the end of the 1979-1980 school year and eventually razed for new housing development.
* McKinley Elementary School - This school closed at the end of the 2005-2006 school year as part of a district consolidation plan due to declining enrollment & budget constraints. The building was absorbed into the Franklin High School Campus, and is now the McKinley Wing. It's also used by the district as an adult education facility and for multi-use purposes.

* James Marshall Elementary School (1960) - This school closed at the end of the 2002-2003 school year due to declining enrollment. The building is now a day care center.

* James Monroe Elementary School - This school closed at the end of the 1979-1980 school year and eventually razed for a new park.

* Nankin Mills Elementary School (1957) - This school closed at the end of the 2005-2006 school year as part of a district consolidation plan due to declining student enrollment & budget constraints. The building is now a special ed center, and is also leased by the Redford Union Schools.

* Newburg Elementary School - This school has been razed.

* Perrinville Elementary School (1936) - This building was the former Perrinville Center, a special needs preschool for young children. The program moved to the former Adams School in the fall of 2008 due to overcrowding in the facility.

As for what will happen to Perrinville after the move, there is a chance for demolition due to the school's close proximity to major roads; the land could be swaped with the city or county; or there is a chance for food service in the building, but it could create heavy traffic.

* Pierson Elementary School - This building is currently the Pierson Center.

* Rosedale Elementary School (First Incarnation, 1927, addition in 1940) - This school closed at the end of the 1978-1979 school year. It briefly reopened during the 1990s, until it was razed in 2000 and absorbed into the park next to it.

* Stark Elementary School (1938) - This school was razed in 1999 for a new church.
* William Taft Elementary School (1958) - This building still stands today but has been leased out.

* Zachary Taylor Elementary School - This school closed at the end of the 2005-2006 school year as part of a district consolidation plan due to declining enrollment & budget constraints. It formerly housed Webster K-6 School students after an arson fire occurred at their school in February of 2008.

Taylor's current use is unknown.

* Tyler Elementary School (1959) - This school closed at the end of the 2005-2006 school year as part of a district consolidation plan due to declining enrollment and budget constraints. It stood vacant for a couple of years until reopening as the new Webster K-6 school building for Webster students in the 2008-2009 school year. The name was also changed from Tyler to Webster.

* George Washington Elementary School (1957) - This school closed at the end of the 2005-2006 school year as part of a district consolidation plan due to declining enrollment and budget constraints. The building is currently leased for the fall of 2008 to Stautzenberger College, an accredited school based in Ohio.

*Webster K-6 School (First Incarnation, 1963) - Webster was heavily damaged in an arson fire during the district's mid-winter break in February 2008. Though repairs started on the building shortly thereafter, it was announced after the 2007-2008 school year that Webster would be razed, as LPS administrators decided that it was too costly to rebuild the school and will instead rehabilitate a vacant school building within the school district.

To recap, on February 18th, 2008, the southern wing of the school suffered extensive fire and smoke damage by arson. It was revealed that 32-year-old Donald Carlson was responsible for the arson, and was arrested by Livonia Police. Superintendent Dr. Randy Liepa said that rebuilding the school on Lyndon Street would cost between $2.1 and $2.9 million dollars. The district made a cash settlement for the structure damage and used it to renovate the new building. The district also got a separate insurance payout for the contents destroyed in the fire.

Webster is home to 350 special needs students and staff members who were moved to the former Taylor Elementary after the arson. They will start the next school year in the former Tyler Elementary building; it was chosen over Taylor and the former Hull Elementary building because of classroom space, large number of bathrooms, office space, and LMC. Renovations and an open house were completed before the beginning of the next school year at the new building. Parking lot and bus loop improvements will be done next summer.

The Tyler building was renamed Webster.

* Whitman Junior High School - This school has been razed. The site is currently part of the Mies/Whitman Park.

* Whittier Junior High School - This school closed at the end of the 1978-1979 school year. It reopened as Cooper Elementary School in 1991, until converted into the Cooper Upper Elementary School in 2006.

* Wilcox Elementary School - This school has been razed.

* Woodrow Wilson Elementary School (1954) - This school closed at the end of the 1978-1979 school year. It formerly housed the district's Food Service.

The fate of the Wilson School is unknown until the district comes up with a cost-effective way to operate it's food service programs, however is subject for possible demolition. The district moved food service out of this building during the summer of 2008, and may consider selling the land to another developer. The property will be reviewed by the City of Livonia's Future Land Use Process, and no decisions will be made until feedback is received.

References

External links

* [http://www.livonia.k12.mi.us/index.html Livonia Public Schools Website]