120 Years The Godfrey School

120 Years

at the

Godfrey School

The Godfrey School, 1894-‐2014

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Introduction In 1952, Superintendent Lloyd C. Fry published a small booklet in honor of the dedication of a new Godfrey School. Shortly after he retired he published a much larger history of the district through 1967. Twenty years later, alumnus and former school board member Marshall E. Norden updated the history through 1988 with a second booklet. Since then, there has been no attempt to add to the written history but a third all-encompassing book is in the works that will also include an extensive history of the surrounding community. It is expected to be published by 2017, the 160th anniversary of the founding of Godfrey-Lee Public Schools, or Wyoming Township District No. 7 as it was known in those days. This short booklet is provided to recognize 120 years since the original Godfrey School opened its doors in 1894.

Seven years after the Godfrey School opened, electric Interurban trains like this one on the left in front of the old Grandville Avenue Christian Reformed Church cut through the district on the way to and from Holland and

Grand Rapids. It would lead to a boom in home, business, and factory building for the next thirty years.


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The first school in Wyoming Township District No. 7 was built on a one square acre plot of land located near the southeast corner of Nagel and Chicago Drive, behind the businesses that are located there today. The date of the lease recording was May 17, 1857 and the school, pictured below, became known as the Green School.

The Green School sometime around 1890 The school membership gradually increased to seventy-seven in 1893 and by 1894, the number of children had risen to a point that a new school was necessary. A one-acre piece of ground was purchased on Godfrey Avenue across from Hudson Street. In the interim, to address the growth in students, a room in the Schnie Store Building on the southwest corner of Seneca and Godfrey was rented. There were two teachers at the time: Miss Agnes Noel, who would teach in the district until 1932, and Mr. L.C. Rogers who taught the upper grades in the rented building.

Left: The old Schnie Store on the southwest corner of Seneca and Godfrey served as a temporary second classroom until the Godfrey School opened in 1894.


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At the time, there were several homes south and north of the school. The new Godfrey school opened as a two-room school with an "upper room" and "lower room." Again, the increase in the number of children for whom the district by law had to provide an education became even greater, and the two-room building constructed ten years earlier was proving very inadequate. By 1905, there were 131 children enrolled necessitating the construction of two more rooms. This required a vote to borrow $4,000 and a second vote one year later to increase that to $6,000. Mr. Rogers had resigned in 1901 and a Mr. Black was hired for the upper room. He was replaced by Mr. Throop in 1904 and subsequently by Mr. Myron B. Witter in 1905.

Bid notice for the Godfrey addition was posted in The Grand Rapids Press, June 13, 1907

In 1907, music and drawing were added to the curriculum, probably taught by the classroom teacher whether or not she was adequately trained to do so. Mr. Dawson was hired as the janitor for the four-room school at $30 per month. It was also noted that the conditions of the outhouses (outdoor toilets) were “demoralizing and detestable” in the exact words of the school board’s records. New ones were built and the old ones sold for $10. The old furnace was also sold. The building of the two additional classrooms prompted other improvements such as the new toilets, the building of a sidewalk, and the redecorating of the two original rooms. A new fence was placed in front of the building and the flagpole was erected and then relocated. Electrical wiring was installed in all four classrooms at a total cost of $31. Two years after expanding to four rooms, the ninth and tenth grades were added with just a handful of students at these levels. An 8th grade education was the standard in those days and it took the passing of an exam to continue beyond the 8th grade. The district paid tuition for students attending other area high schools as 11th and 12th graders.


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A dispute occurred between the school board and a Mr. Schmidt, who owned the property to the south of the school as well as the grocery store near Burton Street. Apparently, the board had erected a border fence that was 1-1/2 foot on his property. The board had the fence moved.

At this time, Mr. McNaughton was employed as principal and he, along with three teachers comprised the faculty with an enrollment of 126 students. Crayons, a new innovation at the time, were bought and sold at cost to the students.

Godfrey School after it was expanded to four rooms

It was during the 1907-08 school year that parents complained about the cost of pencil and paper being too much, especially in families having multiple students in school. The board had just switched from relying on slate and chalk because paper and pencil were quieter and more sanitary. Following the complaints, the board approved furnishing each child with a pencil and a tablet of paper each month. The first purchase of 1,000 tablets cost a total of $25.

Other business that concerned the school board during this year was the beautification of the Godfrey School grounds. An offer by a commercial firm to provide the shrubs and flowers for ninety dollars was refused, but Mr. Wood, a member of the board, offered to provide trees without charge. This was accepted and they were likely the same trees that had to be removed when the new Godfrey School was built forty-five years later.


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A fire alarm system was purchased for $15 and a door changed to swing out instead of in to comply with new state law.

In the spring of 1909, the subject of overcrowding in the Godfrey school was serious. The ninth and tenth grades had been added with three students the following fall studying Latin, algebra, history and composition as ninth grade subjects. Five more would join them the next year and this handful of students were taught by the upper grade teacher (seventh and eighth grade). As a result of the overcrowding, seventeen children were sent home because of a lack of room. The question of increasing the school to a ten grade school was discussed in the spring of 1909. On July 12th, the Board resolved to call a district meeting to vote to enlarge the four-room school then in use. The vote passed 51 to 13 at a special meeting that month. Because of the overcrowding in the fall of 1909, all parents who sent very young children to school were asked to sign cards stating that they were five years old. Those that were not five and those pupils living outside of the district were sent home. With more houses being built in the community and growth continuing, by 1910 four more classrooms were built at a cost of $10,000 to accommodate the growth. Mr. McNaughton resigned as principal and a Mr. Sietsema was hired but the board was not satisfied with his performance, the in May 1911 they hired Mr. C.C. Tuck. One year later, he quit when the school board refused to name him superintendent instead of principal and excuse him from all teaching duties. Instead, the board hired Mr. M.L. Fish from the town of Berlin (now called Marne).

One year later a kindergarten was established, accepting children at least 4-1/2 years of age. A sidewalk was laid along Godfrey Avenue in front of the school at a cost of $47. The budget for 1913 for school operating expenses was $6,000 and in this year a part-time music teacher was hired. Coal to heat the school was $4.85 per ton.

The Grand Rapids Press, August 4, 1915


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The Grand Rapids Press, September 14, 1915

Once again, the School Board was considering whether to add to the existing Godfrey School or build an entirely new structure. At a special meeting of the district voters, the purchase of a new site for a new school was turned down by a vote of 73 to 85. A motion to add rooms to the old Godfrey passed 84 to 62.

The Grand Rapids Press, January 29, 1916

In 1915, the City of Grand Rapids annexed the section of Wyoming Township known as Burton Heights. This caused a problem for children living up along Beals Road (today’s 28th Street) as their only school was now within the city boundaries. The township took part of the Godfrey School district,


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which originally extended to Beals Road, and created the new Rogers District. There were objections but the township won out and District No. 7 was made even smaller.

Two additional rooms were added to the old Godfrey School following a 1915 vote, but the building was steadily becoming outdated as well as a potential firetrap. A second-floor fire escape was added to the front of the school on the south end. That same year, drinking fountains were installed in the newer part of the building and the School Board for the first time referred to Mr. Fish as superintendent, making him the first superintendent in the history of the district.

The question of establishing a four-year high school had first come up during the annual district meeting in 1915. The district was continuing to expand in student enrollment owing to the electric interurban train, proximity to a growing number of industries on the southwest side of Grand Rapids, and platting of land in the GUB. At the annual meeting, the question came up to secure a new elementary school site as the existing one-acre of land at the Godfrey school site was too small. A special meeting later that year ended with approval of adding more rooms to the existing Godfrey school and the new site was shot down. Eventually additional lots were purchased south of the school to allow for expansion, but no steps were taken at this point to expand into a four-year high school.

Unidentified Godfrey teachers in front of the old school during the 1920s

Times were different in the early 1900’s. The School Board formally required that teachers read the Bible to their classes each morning, but without any explanation of the passages read. Those who attended the annual meetings but who were not yet citizens of the United States were required to “stand on one side of the room” and were not entitled to vote on school matters. There likely were many of Dutch ancestry living in the district and library books were purchased in the Holland language as well as the English language in equal numbers.


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In February 1918, Mr. Fish resigned as superintendent and Mr. Merriman was hired to take his place but he died suddenly that spring while going home on the streetcar. Mr. Frazer was hired for the following school year. The district had a bad time of it in the year 1917-18 when the school had to be closed four weeks because of a coal shortage due to the World War. Teachers and board members had a disagreement over whether or not the children should make up the time missed and the board threatened to fire all the teachers. The trouble was ironed out with school being held on a number of Saturdays after classes resumed and the teachers rehired for the next year.

There was a serious Spanish flu epidemic throughout Wyoming Township in the fall of 1918. Minutes of the township indicate that all schools were to be closed by their request, but not all complied. The Godfrey School’s Christmas vacation was extended to two weeks because of this epidemic. The normal practice back then was to close only from Christmas Eve to the day after New Years.

A coal shortage due to the demands of World War I caused a great deal of difficulty in the fall of 1918 and school had to be closed for several weeks. The time was made up in the spring by holding school on ten consecutive Saturdays.

That year, the School Board for the first time relieved the superintendent of teaching duties to allow him to supervise teachers, hiring another teacher to take his place in the classroom. A full-time music and art teacher was hired for the first time in 1919.

Mr. M.A. Becker, an experienced superintendent, was hired to replace Mr. Fraser in 1920. That same fall, the first telephone was installed in the Godfrey School negating the practice of using the telephone next door at Bill and Tina DeWitt’s store to make and take calls.

According to records of the organization’s historian, the PTA was organized at Godfrey School on December 2, 1921. Mr. Becker presided over the meeting. The program included songs by students, led by Mrs. Jeffers, and a piano solo by Miss Sadie Kamp. Speakers included Mr. Lowrey and Mrs. Florence Utter, a long-time teacher in the district. Mrs. Utter then presided over the organization of the PTA. The first name of the PTA was the Godfrey Avenue Public School Parents & Teachers’ Club. By September 1921, it had become obvious to everyone that more classroom space was needed for the rapidly growing community. There was even talk about Godfrey and Wyoming Park consolidating schools but loud protests put an end to that idea.


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The Grand Rapids Press, Jan 9, 1922

Eventually, an investigation into possible new sites for building a second school led to the present Lee school site, a five-acre area purchased for $5,000. The following March, voters approved bonding to purchase the land from John Nagel and construct a new building on that site, but the growing pains would continue at Lee and at Godfrey for years to come.


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Originally planned to be a junior high school, construction of the Lee Street School temporarily relieved an overcrowded Godfrey School and allowed for a full high school program through grade twelve.

The new Lee Street School was dedicated on December 14, 1923. Over the next five years, two additions (east and west wings) would be built to accommodate the continuing growth.


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The Grand Rapids Press, February 7, 1922 (left article) and March 21, 1922 (right).


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This 1922 Galewood basketball team represented the last time high school sports would ever be played at the Godfrey School once the new Lee Street School opened.

The Grand Rapids Press, June 21, 1922 The school district could not keep up with the growth in the community brought on in large part by the electric interurban train, availability of automobiles, and explosion in the number of surrounding factories providing good paying jobs. There was talk at the time of purchasing the "Happy Hollow"


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area north of Joosten Street to build a new elementary school and replace the aging Godfrey building. Nothing came of it and eventually it was used for an athletic complex (although later, with the addition of some of the old Kelvinator property, an Early Childhood Center for students in grades pre-K through 2nd grade was constructed). The Depression and World War II would prevent any other major construction projects to replace this school.

Godfrey kindergarten band poses for a photo (bottom) in front of the old school in 1930 (top)


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Miss Caroline Slade was a long-time principal at the old Godfrey School, taking over in 1924 following three years as a teacher and remaining at the helm until 1944. She was known by many as a “strict disciplinarian, who brooked no inclination of any student to depart from the straight and narrow as concerned attendance, behavior and application to the work at hand.” She was succeeded by Mr. Albert Zagers, who served twenty-one years as Godfrey principal prior to becoming superintendent in 1965.

Godfrey School teachers

Following some changes in the law limiting borrowing for school construction, the issue of a new Godfrey School came up again. The previous idea of building at the site of the athletic field was rejected as it might spoil some of the facilities there, so additional lots were purchased south of the old Godfrey School. While a postcard poll of the community was against any new construction, the School Board went ahead with planning, including a first-ever trip in the new school bus to view other recently-built schools as far away as Comstock (near Kalamazoo) and Zeeland. In an election held in April 1950, the voters approved the bonds by a vote of 506 to 292. Construction of the new school along with the new gymnasium at Lee High School was delayed due to a steel shortage caused by the Korean War. Finally in 1951, construction on a new Godfrey School began just south of the old building, but shortly after the plasterwork was completed, a faulty furnace caused an oil fire that led to smoke damage throughout the building. This led to more delays. At the same time, the district approved selling the old Godfrey School to be torn down in March. Before it was demolished, a big “oldtimer’s” party


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followed by a PTA-sponsored carnival was held in the old school attended by many who attended school there dating back to the first two classrooms in 1894.

The Grand Rapids Press, Feb 22, 1952

On March 7, 1952, a dedication program took place for the new Godfrey Elementary School. Built and furnished at a cost of approximately $300,000 this new building was the vision of a team comprised of school board and PTA members along with the administration. The building was modeled after one recently built in Comstock, Michigan.


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Last known photo of the old Godfrey School just prior to its demolition in 1952. The new school sits off to the right of this photo.

The dedication ceremonies included a final walk-through of the old Godfrey school, a ten-classroom, two-story gothic structure originally constructed with just two classrooms in 1894. Long deemed a fire hazard, especially considering the dried out wooden trusses in the attic, the old school had housed students in kindergarten through the tenth grade until the Lee Street School was opened in 1923. Many former students attended and Miss Agnes Noel, thought to be the oldest surviving teacher with service dating back to 1894, also attended and reminisced about the years.


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When it opened, the new Godfrey Elementary was designed to house 400 students with eleven classrooms and a larger kindergarten room. Other features included a library, music room, and gym (the stage and locker room for the gym were added later). A teacher's lounge, offices, storerooms and a hobby room rounded out the school's facilities.


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New Godfrey School when it opened in March 1952

Considered to be one of the most modern structures at the time, the school had bilateral lighting with the use of glass block along the upper level of each classroom's interior walls. The walls were painted with light colors and acoustical tile ceilings helped with noise. Oil heat instead of the old coal-fired furnace was installed with separate controls in each room. Multiple entrances to the street and playground made access simple. The school contained eleven regular classrooms, a completely self-contained kindergarten room, a library, a music room, a hobby room, gymnasium, kitchen, bathrooms, administration offices and a bookstore. Since opening in 1952, the new Godfrey School experienced three major additions and housed a variety of different grade levels ranging from kindergarten through seventh grade. By 1954, the need arose to add four additional rooms to the east wing of the school and within another two years, four rooms were added to the north wing. This provided a large kindergarten classroom and a new entrance at the north end of the building (directly across from Hudson Street), and three self-contained classrooms for lower elementary, along with one small room used for a lunch room at the time as well as beginning band students. There were 1,050 students enrolled in the district at that time. The south parking lot was added in 1957 and at that time the old stage and a small locker room, both since removed, were constructed at the south end of the Godfrey gym. It had been hoped years earlier to build a fine arts auditorium when the old Lee gym stage was removed, but that dream has never materialized.


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A couple of 7th graders are standing in front of the Godfrey School. In the distance to the right is the old Koeze Building, site of the first Wyoming Township Offices, Police Department, and Library.

The last major addition was constructed in 1998 at the north end of Godfrey School after the district purchased the old Bill & Tina DeWitt store/home and had it demolished. The tree to the left in this photo still stands in memory of the DeWitt’s as it was likely one they planted in their backyard where they called home since the 1910’s.


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Views of Godfrey School in 2014; the bottom photo shows where the old Godfrey School sat from 1894 to 1952


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Tree on north end of Godfrey School that stood for many years in the backyard of Bill & Tina DeWitt’s store. Both were very good friends of Godfrey School children.

Documents

120 Years The Godfrey School