Greenwood School (for white students)
Greenwood School (for white students) was an Albemarle County Public School in Greenwood that was open from 1889 to 1983. [1]
See also: Greenwood School (for Black students)
History
The school moved from its original one-room log house location to a building on Stony Run near Beagle's Gap Road in 1890. The school closed soon after for a lack of pupils. In 1903, it reopened in a new building on the same site, then in 1907 expanded to another teacher in a small building nearby. [1]
In 1908, a third teacher was added and a larger two-story frame building was constructed. There were 125 pupils enrolled in the 1918-1919 school year, when the first principal, H.G. Coville, was hired and began to attract students from Midway, Edgewood, Hillsboro, and Batesville. The school was accredited in 1920. [1]
In 1921, a fundraising effort raised $27,000 in donations and a $24,000 interest-free loan for a new school building, largely from Randolph Ortman of Blue Ridge Farm. The cornerstone was laid in 1921 with Albemarle County Supervisor C. Purcell McCue presiding. [1]
Paul H. Cale served as principal following R. Claude Graham's ascension to county superintendent in 1935, before himself becoming superintendent in 1947. Former teacher Leslie Walton became county superintendent in 1969, soon followed in 1970 by Clarence McClure, another former Greenwood teacher. [1]
Closure
In 1953, Greenwood High School was closed when county high schools (except for Scottsville High School) were consolidated into Albemarle High School. A countywide appointed committee recommended the closure of Greenwood Elementary School in January 1983. [1]
Citizen protests, headed by a local committee of seven volunteers headed by Col. William R. Washington, obtained a one-year extension of the closure but ultimately failed to convince the School Board to overturn its decision. Students instead went to either Brownsville Elementary School or Red Hill Elementary School. [1]
Principals
- H.G. Coville – 1918 to 1924
- Archie F. Robertson – 1925 to 1925
- George F. Dunn – 1925 to 1927
- R. Claude Graham – 1928 to 1935
- Paul H. Cale – 1935 to 1947
- Benjamin F. Hurt – 1947 to 1953
- Richard Strafford – 1953 to 1954
- John W. Massie –
- William Bullock –
- Robert Wood –
- Charles Wallace –
- H. Harold Walker –
- Harry W. Kent – 1962 to 1966
- Roland Zimmerman – 1966 to 1974
- James F. Sledd – 1974 to 1984
- Joyce A. Wright – 1984 to closure [1]