Gridley Unified School District

Compiled from"History of Butte County" by Joseph F. McGie.

History - Gridley Union School District

The following chart provides a summary genealogy of the Gridley Union School District.

Prior to the formation of the community of Gridley in 1870, elementary students in the Gridley area were served by the Live Oaks and West Liberty School Districts, both of which were formed in 1860. The Live Oaks District had an initial enrollment of approximately 80 students and was located northeast of Gridley. The West Liberty District was located to the southwest and had an enrollment of 28 students. In 1868 the Manzanita School District was formed out of the West Liberty District.

In February of 1873 the Butte School District was formed out of the West Liberty School District to serve students west of Gridley. The Butte District was split in 1876 when the Beecher School District was formed. A little over a decade later the Beecher District was annexed into the West Liberty District.

With the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1870, running from Oregon down the west coast, a number of communities were established along its route. The community of Gridley was established around this time with the train station at its center. In 1873 the Gridley Township School District was formed with a service area measuring one and half miles square with the station at the center. The Hamilton Township District, which had served both the communities of Biggs and Gridley, was split to form this District. Then, sometime between 1890 and 1899, the District grew with the annexation of the Live Oaks School District. A decade later, in 1909, the Gridley Township District was split and the East Gridley School District established.

In 1945, the current Gridley Union School District was established from the union of the West Liberty and Gridley Township Districts. Then in 1950, it increased its service area with the annexation of both the Butte and East Gridley Districts.

Another "branch in the family tree" originated in 1853 with the establishment of the Ophir Township School District. In 1858 a portion of this district was set apart to form the Central House School District, which continued until 1950 when it also was annexed into the Gridley Union School District.

McKinley Elementary School

As indicated above, the Gridley Township District was formed in 1873. In 1874 the first elementary school was built on what is currently the McKinley site. The school continued to serve the community until the turn of the century. During the McKinley administration (1897 - 1901) the original school building was moved to Ohio Street and became the Orange Hotel. In March of 1902, the city voted to raise $12,000 for construction of a new elementary school building. In 1903 a new two and half story facility was constructed on the same school site and opened in the fall of 1903. This facility served the elementary students, and for a short time the high school students, until 1913 when the school was destroyed by fire. A new school was constructed on the same site and designed architecturally to be a duplicate of its predecessor. This structure remained in tact until the 1930s when it was condemned as structurally unsound and subsequently demolished. The condemnation was the consequence of safety standards that were established with the passage of the Field Act in 1933. Since that time, these standards have led to the condemnation and subsequent demolition of many school buildings throughout the state.

The Field Act: On March 10, 1933 a strong earthquake shook Southern California, damaging or destroying many school buildings. If the quake had occurred while schools were in session, catastrophic injuries and deaths among school children would have occurred.

Don Field, a building contractor and state assemblyman, witnessed the quake and immediately introduced legislation, which required that school buildings meet strong structural safety standards. The legislation passed through the legislature and was signed by the governor exactly one month after the earthquake.

In 1937 the current school facility was constructed under the authority of the Work Projects Administration (WPA). The WPA was a federally funded program created when unemployment was widespread and designed to increase the purchasing power of persons on relief by employing them on useful projects. The WPA's building program resulted in the enhancement of the nation's infrastructure with the construction of public facilities throughout the country.

Federal Aid for Facilities: In the 1930s the federal government began to participate in the financing of school facilities. Its early programs - the Civil Works Administration, the Works Progress Administration, and the Public Works Administration - all took part in providing needed facilities for California schools. For the most part these agencies worked closely with the state's Division of Schoolhouse Planning in developing projects. However, the location of projects was determined to a substantial degree by the proximity of unemployed labor and the availability of local funds.

McKinley is located at 1045 Sycamore Street. Portable classrooms were added in 1960 and 1968 to accommodate the increased enrollment. The site is approximately 1.7 acres and currently houses 330 students in grades one through two.

Wilson Elementary School

In 1914, in the midst of the Wilson administration, Wilson elementary school was constructed. It was a two story, concrete walled facility. Like many of the schools constructed at that time, the architectural style was modeled after the California missions, including belfries at each end of the building. It too fell victim to the Field Act and was subsequently demolished and replaced in 1962 with the current single story facility.

The Wilson School is located at 409 Magnolia Street. Portable classrooms were added in 1968 and 1992 to accommodate the increased enrollment. The site is approximately 4.7 acres and currently houses 652 students in kindergarten and in grades three through five.

Sycamore Elementary School

The history of the Sycamore facility is related to that of Gridley High School. Following the fire in 1942 that damaged the high school building that was located on this site; the middle grades were housed in the remaining buildings on this site. As enrollments grew in years following the war, plans were made to construct a new facility. Such a facility was constructed at the current site and opened in 1955, serving grades six through eight as well as providing for two kindergarten classrooms.

At the time the school was constructed the school board debated what name to give the new school. When it was suggested that the method used to name both the McKinley and Wilson schools be applied, namely, to name the school after the president in office, there was silence. The president at that time was Harry S. Truman, a name that was not likely to be chosen by the board of trustees, all of who were staunch Republicans. The silence ended when the suggestion was made to name the school after the street on which is was located. This suggestion was immediately seconded and unanimously passed (this anecdote was related by Joe McGie, teacher in the district at that time and the person who made the suggestion).

The Sycamore School is located at 1125 Sycamore Street on approximately 8.3 acres, adjacent to the McKinley School. A cafeteria was added in 1962 and a gymnasium/music facility in 1975. Portable classrooms were added in 1971 and 1992 to accommodate the increased enrollment. The school was modernized in 1993. Currently, Sycamore houses 426 students.

Gridley Union High School District

In 1892 the High School District was formed. Prior to this decade, students desiring to continue their education beyond elementary school would either leave the County or enroll in either of the two private academies in Chico. In 1892 the state legislature provided the statutory basis for providing public education at the secondary level. The legislation permitted the formation of a high school district by allowing two or more elementary district areas to be combined into a high school district with a separate school board. In Butte County, only two communities took advantage of this legislation, Oroville and Gridley. At the time the Gridley Union High School District was formed it served the students from both the Gridley Township and Manzanita School Districts.

Gridley High School

From the fall of 1892, the date when the Gridley Union High School District was formed, till the spring of 1895, the high school was contained in the upper rooms of the elementary school building which had been constructed on what is currently the McKinley site. In the fall of 1895 (or 1896), the high school was moved to a residence on the corner of Virginia and Spruce Streets. It continued to occupy this building until the fall of 1903. At that time, the high school was relocated to the upper rooms of the newly constructed McKinley Elementary School.

In the fall of 1907 the first high school building was completed on what is currently the Sycamore site. This facility had two upper stories for classrooms and office. The basement, on the ground floor, contained the physics and chemistry laboratories and classroom along with the facilities for heating the building and the janitor's quarters. There were also several auxiliary buildings on the site; a manual arts building, a horse and carriage shed, and a clapboard gymnasium. The athletic field was located to the west of the main school building.