South Shore School District

South Shore School District is located in Port Wing, Wisconsin and services education from Pre-K through Grade 12. It is located on School Road and Washington Avenue.

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History

South Shore School District was first one of the many “township schools” in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, when Port Wing Township was still part of Bayfield Township. From then there have been five schools built in 1893, 1894, 1898, 1903, 1978 and 1990.

The first “schoolhouse” was built in 1893 by Irving Herrick as a small structure of logs near the Larson Creek and Twin Falls. It is known that there were about seven students.

The second and actual school was built in 1894 by the town of Bayfield and was a one-room school with a belfry. Because of growing enrollment in the town of Port Wing, the town of Bayfield built a second schoolhouse in 1898 along with a woodshed that was made into the Port Wing Creamery and then added on to make a co-op. If there were more students they would use the Presbyterian Church.

These two schools would serve as the main form of education in Port Wing until 1903, when the most remembered “Big White School” replaced them, making them obsolete.

In 1901, Port Wing became its own township on March 8. This was a turning point as it was in charge of its own elections, roads, and schools.

In 1903, the town of Port Wing decided they needed to build a bigger school for the growing demands of enrollment. For $25,000 in 1903 they built a brand-new three-story white school with a contract with the local sawmill.

The building was divided into the Port Wing Graded School on the first floor, and the Union Free High School on the second floor.

The school board of 1903 was also "high-tech” too, with the first “school buses” (wagons called kid hacks) in Wisconsin.

This would be the school of Port Wing until 1978, when the school was moved to the new school that the school district resides in today. A sad story is that in 1979, everything except the belfry was destroyed and the belfry stands today as a solemn reminder of the school.

In 1978, the school was moved to its present location and in 1990 the elementary edition was added on the south side.

In March 2007, the Elementary School was flooded from backup of water in a main ditch near the playground under the bridge and the carpet was ripped out and replaced with industrial tile.

Sports

South Shore’s teams bear the name Cardinals, with its mascot Big Red. Sports there are slimmer than at most schools, but it does have baseball, X-Country, Volleyball and its big sport, basketball. The basketball team is led by its five all-conference seniors, Mitch Ogren, Johnathon Ramirez, John Delimat, Nigel Highlands, and Josh Hudachek. The boys team went 20-0 in conference play this year.

The school has a great basketball program at South Shore, with teams for 3-4 and 5-6 Grades, Middle and High School Basketball. Jolene Anderson was a student at South Shore before she went to college and her awards and jersey are on display in the High School Commons.

South Shore also has two gymnasiums and a track and field area on campus, along with two smaller outdoor courts and a playground.

Sources

*Rockenbach, Sondra; "A New Town: Port Wing, WI the Early Years", pages 16-18 July 7-8 July, 2001, by the Port Wing Centennial Committee.