VPS historical timeline

In 1953 Lewis Junior High School became the third junior high in the district.  The school first opened in 1943 as Bagley Downs Elementary, but was renamed Lewis and Clark Elementary School in 1946.  Soon [...]

Dale Whitenack becomes superintendent.

Mrs. Jongewards' kindergarten class at Lincoln Elementary.

Fruit Valley Elementary School, 1947-48 baseball team.

For the 1946-47 school year, Ogden Meadows became a full-fledged high school consisting of grades ten, eleven and twelve. The first annual commencement exercises were held on June 5, 1947, with 74 students qualifying for [...]

Ogden Meadows Junior-Senior High School In 1945, 15 additional classrooms were added to the building at a cost of $147,978. On August 14, 1945, the school board designated the school as a junior-senior high school. [...]

When John Rogers Elementary School opened its doors in the fall of 1945, it was known as the Fourth Plain Village School. It was built to help relieve overcrowded Washington School. During its first year, [...]

MacAuthur Elementary, Teacher Vivian Pinson   MacAuthur Elementary, Grocery Store

During the high-growth World War II years, MacArthur Elementary School was built south of the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Blandford Drive. Named in honor of General Douglas MacArthur, the school opened in the fall [...]

Hough Elementary School opened in 1941.

Felida School Bus, 1936-37

Arnada Elementary Class of 1934, 1st grade.

Dr. Paul F. Gaiser, Superintendent from 1934-1952.

Kiggins Bowl was dedicated August 13, 1933, and named after longtime mayor J.P. Kiggins.

Vancouver was the second district in Washington to build a junior high school. It was the vision of Charles Shumway, 35-year superintendent of Vancouver School District. On August 28, 1928, the board took Shumway to [...]

Franklin School, grade 5, 1927

A parade with children representing pioneer days.

Salmon Creek School, grades 5–8, 1922–23

Vancouver High School diploma, Albert G. Marble, 1913

After enrollment in Vancouver schools increased 10 percent a year for six years, voters approved a $100,000 bond election to build a new high school on the corner of 26th and Main. Vancouver High School, [...]

Vancouver’s first brick schoolhouse, Arnada Elementary School, opened in 1910 on H Street between 25th Street and East Fourth Plain. The name was derived from the names of three Vancouver women: Margaret Ranns, Anna Eastham, [...]

Hazel Dell Elementary, 1909, Teachers Miss Hixon and Miss Broomhead.

A page out of the Vancouver High School grade book, Class of 1896.

Felida School District was established. The original school still stands on Northwest 36th Avenue.

Charles Shumway becomes superintendent. He served 35 years as superintendent.

Patrick (Paddy) Hough becomes principal of Columbian School. Hough demonstrated a sincere affection for each pupil. He passed on to his students a deep and abiding love for learning. For him, each paper he marked [...]

The first Harney School was erected and named for Lt. General William S. Harney, commander of Vancouver Barracks. The building had four outside entrances, and girls and boys entered through different doors. In 1902 students [...]

L.H. Leach appointed superintendent.

Vancouver voters passed a levy, with a vote of 208 to 13, to build a new public school. Central School was built on 13th Street and Franklin. Central School was erected that year at a [...]

Lake Shore School District dates back to the early 1880s. It wasn’t unusual for children to get distracted by pigs rooting and grunting under the building. A new Lake Shore School was built in 1894 [...]