Dale County AlArchives News.....First Ozark School Built in 1841 1970 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Christine Thacker http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00033.html#0008100 April 23, 2004, 11:21 pm Southern Star OZARK CENTENNIAL SECTION (Southern Star 1970) First Ozark School Built In 1841 Maintaining an excellent school system has been a number one goal of Ozark since its beginning. Alabama had been a state for 22 years when Ozark's first school building was constructed. The year was 1841 and the building was located at the head of a nearby stream. Following this school, a series of private institutions and academies preceded public education in Ozark. Then in 1870, the first public school came into being and was housed in a wooden building which stood near the intersection of College and Eufaula Streets. From this location, the school was moved to the spot where Daleville, Broad and Reynolds Streets now intersect. The first brick school building was constructed in 1894 and was known as the Ozark Grade School. Courses were offered through, the tenth grade with Professor M. A. Smith serving as its first principal. This was the first school building owned by the City of Ozark. The first high school in the immediate area, Dale County High, came into existence with the Legislative Act of August, 1907, which provided for a county high school in each county. The people of the county were required to construct a building worth at least $5,000, equip it, and deed the building, equipment, and five acres of land to the State. The Act provided that the State and County should co-operate in the establishment of the school, the County to furnish the plant and the State the teachers. Dale County was among the first to qualify for this State aid and actually received $6,000 from the State the first year. An Act (local) by the Legislature in 1915 repealed the Act of 1907, which had created the Dale County High School. This, of course, meant no further State aid for some time and led to the organization of the Ozark High School. In looking at this high school of almost fifty years ago, we find the curriculum highly academic, enrollment less than 100, with a graduating class of approximately a dozen students. The Ozark High School was destroyed by fire on April 9, 1918. The new building, which now serves as the 7th and 8th grade portions of Ozark Junior High School, was erected in 1922 at a cost of $90,000. The four acre tract of land for this building was given to the city by the Honorable H. L. Martin and the property was deeded to the state in 1928 in order to receive state aid. In 1927-28, the High School again became the Dale County High School under provisions of the Act of 1907, which set off County, High Schools in Alabama. By this time, however, the two schools had outgrown the building. The Elementary departments were housed on the third floor of the three-story building. It was evident that a new school was needed to house the Elementary School. Therefore, in 1927, a three mill tax was levied for a period of 25 years to pay for this building. Because of strict accreditation requirements, increased duties, responsibilities of school administrators, and increased enrollment, the City of Ozark deemed it wise, in the best interest of the two schools, to form a city system, thereby separating the Ozark Elementary from the Dale County High School. ____(page torn) the Ozark City __ system was established with Mrs.Emma P. Flowers as its first Superintendent, an office she held for 25 consecutive years. The two schools in the system were the Ozark City Elementary School and the Ozark Negro School. In 1937, at Christmas time, the Ozark'City Elementary School,located where Emma P. Flowsrs Elementary School now stands, was destroyed by fire and Ozark was again faced with a problem. The building was insured for $28,000. Through careful planning, and close supervision, the building was replaced, with an additional audiorium and cafeteria. While construction was in process. the school moved to Methodist and Baptist Churches, and continued operating for the remaining part of the school year. Schools which consolidated with Ozark during those years were the following: Ewell, Post Oak, Camp Ground, Liberty Ridge and others. The increase in enrollment from 1940 to 1950 created problems demanding more facilities. From 1940 to "1942 there was an increase of 138 children in the Ozark City School and 216 in the system. And there were only 12 classrooms in the building for housing 628 children, with still more to come. An application for Federal Aid was approved in 1942 for $76,800 with $51,200 allocated to Ozark City School and S25,600 to the Negro School. From 1942 to 1949,funds for the operation of schools In the amount of $10,500 was received under the Lanham Act. Fluctuations in personnel at Fort Rucker of course affected the enrollment in the schools, but while Fort Rucker was expanding, Ozark was also growing by leaps and bounds and the population swelled from 3,601 in 1940 to approximately 9,500 in the late 1950's. With this type of of growth, the school had problems which faced the City Board of Education and the Superintendent. On July 1, 1953, the Dale County High School was transferred to the Ozark City Board of Education, so that the city school system at this time consisted of Ozark High School, the Emma P. Flowers School and the D. A. Smith School. The enrollment for the high school had increased to 600. Several additions had been made to the Emma P. Flowers School as well as a complete renovation of the Ozark High School Building. The D. A. Smith School had grown in proportion and had also added new facilities for meeting its needs. Cont. from preceding page LAND FOR CARROLL HIGH Seeing the need for further expansion, the heirs of the Marvin CARROLL and Sam J. Carroll, Sr., families gave 32 acres of land on Forrest Avenue for the construction of the Carroll High School and Matthews Stadium, And in 1956, Carrcll High opened with a staff of 26 teachers with an enrollment of 700 students, W. M. Lewis became Superintendent of the Ozark School System in 1957 and served in this capacity until 1960, when he re-signed to enter private business, Thomas Alexander, Principal of Carroll High School, was then elected by the Board of Education to fill the vacancy created by Lewis' resignation. Continued growth and increased enrollment in the elementary school demanded new facilities. In 1961, with funds from the $100 million bond issue, the Harry N. Mixon Elementary School was begun. This school opened in September, 1962, with 12 classroom teachers, a principal and approximately 400 students, Alexander resigned as Superintendent of the Ozark City Schools in August, 1963, and Billy Ray Fralish, Supervisor of Instruction for the system, was appointed to fill this vacancy as Acting Superintendent. In January, 1964, the Board appointed Fralish Superintendent of the Ozark City School System. In 1965, East Gate Junior High, which was built by the county to house Fort Rucker's junior high students, became a part of the Ozark City System. During the early part of Fralish's administration, plans were completed for two additional elementary school plants. The Thompkins and Lisenby schools were opened in Septem-ber, 1966, with a combined enrollment of approximately 550 students. The establishment of these two elementary schools brought relief to the overcrowded Emma P. Flowers and D. A.Smith Elementary Schools. As of September 2, 1970, there were 4,620 students enrolled in Ozark's city schools. Grades 1-6 are housed at Emma P. Flowers, Harry N. Mixon and George W. Lisenby schools, while grades 7-8 are at the old Ozark Junior-High building and at East Gate Junior High. Grade nine is at the former D. A. Smith School, with Carroll High taking grades 10-12. Special education classes are conducted at Mayme Thompkins School. 1908 Honor Roll In School Listed (Reprint from The Southern Star, Wednesday, December 16,1908): Honor roll of the Dale County High School for month ending Dec. 4th, 1908: PRIMARY DEPARTMENT Hcmer Doster, Reno Dowling, Julian Holman, Casey Andrews, Gladis Ketchum, Effie Norman Murphy, Robbie Lou Powell, Annie Beth Sessions, Maud Andrews, Clara Dean, Jessie Hall, Susie Mae Hall, Fonsie White, Tennyson Payne, Lillian Hunter, Noel Andrews, Jesse Dowling, Neal Holman. PREPARATORY DEPT. Lillie Ware Ard, Nuna Deloney, Mattie Bell Dominey, Helen Dowling, Bertha Howell, Vedora Marshall, Zack Dowling, Preston Helms, Clara Deloney, Bensin Mae Faulk, Jimmie Scott, Myotis Johnson, Lena Johnson, Annie Laura Loftin, Lanty Powell, Hauly Riley, Lenora Windham, Gamer Goodbread, Chas. Key, Jordon Loftin, Grady McFadden. HIGH SCHOOL Madia Knox Gillis, Willie Bell Sessions, Ruth Stokes, Thos. Johnson, Annie Laura Cullens, Jessie Ham, Susie Kolb, Essie McLeod, Willie Bell McLeod, Minnie Lee McNair, Waldo Ard, Vida Doster, Mattie Kolb, Birdie Loftin, Thacker Lee Murphy, Ethel Pippin. Faculty For 1908 Session Announced (Reprint from The Southern Star, Wednesday, September 16, 1908); The fall session of the Dale County High School opened Monday under the most flattering prospects. The attendance promises to be larger this session than ever before in the history of the school. The faculty is es- pecially strong and is as follows: Prof. J. B. Murphy, Prof. M. M. Pippin, Miss Carter, "Miss Walker, Miss Wright, Mrs. Borders. Miss Floyd, Miss Mewborn, Miss Wall, Mrs. Simmons, Miss Carlton, music teacher, Miss Leita Garner, elocution teacher. We trust that the patrons of the school will give the teachers their hearty support and encouragemeni which will go a long way towards making the school a success. From the Newspaper files of H.S. Submitted by CGT. Permission to post any Southern Star article or pictures given by Mr Joseph Adams, Owner, April 23, 2004. This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/alfiles/ File size: 10.4 Kb