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HISTORY |
The W.S. Hadley Middle School was
named for a man who lived on the West Side for many years. William
Spencer Hadley was born in Richland, Iowa, on January 18, 1866. He moved
to Beloit in 1876 and attended public schools in Beloit. After finishing
his education, he became a school teacher for several years.
In 1901 Mr. Hadley moved to Wichita and was in the banking business in
Wichita most of his life. For many years he was president of a bank on
the west side and was active in the West Wichita Commercial League. He
served as a member of the Board of City Commissioners and was at one
time president of the Board of Trustees of Friends University. He
maintained a very active interest in Friends University, in the
University Friends Church, and in the national affairs of Friends
churches.
Hadley School was planned several years ahead of its actual use. The
site was purchased from Ernest Clark and Mrs. Florence Davis. It was
farm territory at the time, and the farm had been in the Clark family
for many years. This site and the site for Bryant Elementary School were
bought in cooperation with the Park Department, which owns the area
immediately west of the two schools. The Park Department made a large
area available to the community for school and park activities.
Leaper and Gilbert, architects, were commissioned to draw the plans and
specifications for the building, and the contract was let in January of
1957. The building and site cost approximately $1,400,000. The building
has about 103,000 square feet to serve approximately 1,000 pupils.
Hadley Junior High opened in the fall of 1958 with an enrollment of 432.
To justify the opening of the school, the boundary line was set two
blocks south of Central Avenue. In the fall of 1960 the city annexed
Country Acres and Westlink, and by the fall of 1961 the enrollment was
830. The enrollment steadily increased to a peak of 1,423 in 1969. The
increased enrollment required the use of portable classrooms, and 16
were placed on the site during the period of expanding pupil population.
The purchase of Madonna High School to serve as a junior high on the
west side brought about a revision of boundaries in 1971. This helped to
eliminate the need for portables, and they were removed as the pupil
population stabilized. Internal revisions have included converting an
industrial technology room to two classrooms. School population again
increased and by 1995 it approached 1,000 students, necessitating the
use of nine portables.
In the fall of 1988, all ninth graders were moved to high schools
leaving seventh and eighth graders. In the fall of 1989, all junior high
schools became middle schools (6-8). In the past, approximately 400
sixth graders came from Wilbur Middle School each year, for one year
only, to relieve their crowded school. |
