German Americans of Cleveland
Cleveland Press Articles
Girls' Junior High Planned at Notre Dame Academy Site
By Marjorie Schuster
Schools Writer
Cleveland Press, June 21, 1963
Cleveland's first public junior high school for girls only may be opened before the year is out.
Location would be the present Notre Dame Academy building at 1325 Ansel Rd. That school is being moved to the Notre Dame Center in Geauga County, and the Cleveland property reportedly is being offered for sale for $1,200,000.
A preliminary study by Cleveland school officials shows that with practically no changes the building could use 500 to 600 girls. It could be remodeled to accommodate as many as 1,000 pupils, according to Alva R. Dittrick, deputy superintendent in charge of secondary schools.
Temporary Solution
Acquisition of the Notre Dame property for this use would be at least a temporary solution to the acute housing problem at Patrick Henry Junior High, which now has the biggest junior high enrollment in the state. It will go to 2,400 in September.
There would also be some relief for the crowded situation at Empire, Addison, and Harry Davis Junior Highs.
Dittrick said the experiment with a school for girls in the 13 to 15-year-old bracket long has been desired. School officials want to see, he said, if such an atmosphere would ease the transition from elementary school to high school.
In Cleveland, only Jane Addams Vocational High School now is limited to girls. The new junior high would be a general school.
Dittrick said the fact that the Notre Dame building has only one gym and other limited facilities also would confine its immediate use to girls. He said appraisals and remodeling estimates will be completed before any recommendation is made to the School Board.
At the last School Board meeting, a parents' delegation picketed the school administration building and then appeared before the board to protest the alleged inaction in curing the crowded situation in Patrick Henry.
The situation is one of several critical ones because, Dittrick said, peak school enrollments now are at ninth and tenth grade levels.
