| Aguilar School |
Juan Aguilar started work for the school district as a custodian at Rural
School in 1939. He later worked at the Eight Street, Ritter, and
Carminati schools. He retired as head custodian at Arredondo school in
1973. He worked a total of 37 years for the district. |
| Arredondo School |
This school honors Alejandro and Josefa "Josie" Arredondo, members
of a long-time Tempe family. After the death of her husband in 1959, Mrs.
Arredondo worked as a baker at Thew Elementary School and went back to school
to earn her GED diploma. She worked for the district through the
1960s. She also instilled the value of education in her children.
All six of her sons worked in education at some point in their careers. |
| Broadmor School |
This school takes its name from the surrounding neighborhood. Local
developer Herman Goldman built the Broadmor subdivision. Broadmor School
opened in 1955. |
| Bustoz School |
Ramona and Joaquin Bustoz went to work for the Tempe Elementary School
District in 1935. Joaquin joined the staff of the Rural School in 1949
and later became the head custodian at Gilliland Middle School. Ramona
worked as a cook for the Rural and Broadmor schools. Joaquin retired in
1968. |
| Carminati School |
Augusta "Gussie" Carminati was a long-time Tempe Elementary School
District principal. She joined the district as a teacher at the Tempe
Grammar School in 1930. In 1947 she became the principal at the Eighth
Street School. She became the first principal at the new Ritter School
in 1951. |
| Connolly Middle School |
Francis, or "Frank", Connolly and his wife, Irma, provided the
name for this school. Frank came to Tempe in 1937. He was the
long-time publisher of the Tempe Daily News, was a two-term president
of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, and served six years on the Tempe City
Council. |
| Curry School |
This school is named for John Curry, a native Tempe resident. He was
one of the well-known "Curry twins." Eddie Curry was the
other. Both brothers were mostly known for operating the Tempe Hardware
store. John Curry served eight years on the Tempe City Council and
helped organize Tempe's volunteer fire department. During the Great
Depression, Curry was Deputy Director of the WPA, where he helped build many
educational buildings. He was also a founder of the Sun Angels
Foundation. |
| Evans School |
H. J. Evans owned the land where the school is now located. He was a
jeweler and farmer. His wife, Flonta Evans, sold the land after his
death. She was a native of Lithuania and was naturalized here. |
| Fees Middle School |
Sam Fees was superintendent of the Tempe Elementary School District from
1962 to 1976. His family moved to Tempe when he was five. He
attended Tempe Schools and graduated from Arizona State College. Fees
started his teaching career at the Tenth Street School in 1947. He
became an assistant superintendent in 1955 and a principal in 1957 (Tenth
Street School and McKemy School). At his own request Fees left the
superintendent's position in 1976 and took over the position of Director of
Student Services. He retired in 1981. |
| Frank School |
Veda Frank was a teacher and principal for the Tempe Elementary School
District. She was a teacher for 12 years when she joined the district in
1946. She spent the rest of her career in service to the students of
Guadalupe. She started as a third grade teacher at Guadalupe School
until 1958 when she became the school's principal. She held that
position until her death in 1967. |
| Fuller School |
Dr. Kenneth Fuller, a dentist, was a member of the Tempe Elementary School
District Governing Board for 14 years. An Arizona native, he moved to
Tempe in 1955. He also served as chairman of the Community Chest and the
United Fund. |
| Getz School |
Edith Getz was a local civic activist. She worked on many Tempe fund
drives for the Red Cross, City of Hope, March of Dimes, Cancer Society, and
United Fund. Mrs. Getz also helped organize the Tempe Family Service,
the Mesa-Tempe Mental Health Center, the Tempe Cancer Society, and helped with
the fund drive for the Valley of the Sun School in Phoenix. |
| Gililland Middle School |
Clyde Gililland was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Tempe
Elementary School District from 1940 to 1953. He was also a member of
the Tempe City Council from 1932-1934 and 1938-1961, and served as Tempe's Mayor
from 1960-1961. He was
also a member of the volunteer fire department. |
| Holdeman School |
Pop Holdeman was a long-time teacher, principal, and administrator in the
Tempe Elementary School District. He started teaching for the district
at the 10th Street School in 1936. He was promoted to Administrative
Assistant for the district in 1957 and became the Assistant Superintendent for
business a year later. He worked for the district until his death in
1960. |
| Hudson School |
This school sits on land that was once part of E. W. Hudson's large cotton
farm. The school is named for the Hudson family, which made many
contributions to the development of Tempe and provided help to the school
district. |
| Laird School |
Hugh Laird served 32 years on the Tempe City Council, 14 of these as
Mayor. He also operated the Laird & Dines drug store at 5th Street
and Mill Avenue that his family started in the late 1890s. The drug
store became the informal political center of Tempe for many years. |
| McKemy Middle School |
Harvey McKemy was superintendent of the district from 1934 to 1962.
Before that he was the principal of Kyrene School for six years. He was
also a member of the state board of education from 1950 to 1952. McKemy
died in 1979. |
| Meyer School |
Albert and Agnes Meyer worked at the old Rural School. Starting in the
1920's Mr. Meyer drove the school bus and served as the school's
custodian. Mrs. Meyer taught grades one through eight for 38 years. |
| Nevitt School |
Harold Nevitt was a native of Tempe. He attended Tempe Elementary
schools, Tempe High School, and graduated from Arizona State Teachers
College. He taught at Tempe Elementary before joining the Naval Corps
during World War II. Later he served on the district's Board of Trustees
for 14 years. |
| Rover School |
Dr. R. Craig Rover was elected to the district's Board of Trustees in
1959. He served for 16 years, including several terms as
president. He was a professor in the College of Education at Arizona
State University. |
| Scales School |
Lucille Scudder Scales' father was the first superintendent for the Tempe
High School. Lucille started teaching second grade in Tempe in
1929. She stayed at the school for 37 years, and taught all grade levels
including physical education, art, and served as a librarian. Eddie Scales
joined the Tempe Grammar (Tenth Street) School as a sixth grade teacher in
1935. He later taught music and became the school's music director, and
retired in 1972. The couple was the first husband and wife team to work
for the District. |
| Thew School |
Flora Thew taught first grade in the Tempe Elementary School District for 48
years. She earned her teaching certificate from the Tempe Normal School
in 1913 and went to work the same year at the Eighth Street School. In
1951 she moved to the Wayne Ritter Elementary School (now closed). She
retired from teaching in 1961 at the age of 70. Ms. Thew received
several awards for her successful career. |
| Wood School |
Ruby Haigler Wood attended Tempe schools and earned her teaching certificate
at the Tempe Normal School. She taught at schools in Buckeye, Arizona
and California before she became a volunteer in a clinic at Guadalupe
School. From 1934 to 1974, the year she retired, she taught several
grades, homemaking, and adult education. During her last two years she
worked as a teacher, truant officer, counselor, nurse, and director of special
education. |
