View source for Kent City School District

{{short description|School district in Ohio}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox school district
|name                = Kent City School District
|logo                = Kent City Schools logo.png
|motto               = 
|type                = [[Public school (government funded)|Public]]
|budget              = 
|established         = 1860
|region              = 
|grades              = Pre-K through 12
|superintendent      = Tom Larkin
|teachers            = 189
|staff               = 273
|students            = 3,273 (2021–22)<ref name=nces_dist/>
|us_nces_district_id = {{NCES District ID|3904416|district_name=Kent City|access_date=March 15, 2020}}
|conference          = 
|free_label          = 
|free_text           = 
|address             = 321 North DePeyster Street
|city                = [[Kent, Ohio|Kent]]
|state               = [[Ohio]]
|country             = United States
|zipcode             = 44240
|website             = {{URL|kentschools.net/}}
| coordinates         = {{Coord|41|09|24|N|81|21|21|W|format=dms|display=inline,title|type:edu_region:US-OH}}
}}
The '''Kent City School District''' is a [[Public school (government funded)|public]] [[school district]] based in [[Kent, Ohio]], United States. It serves approximately 3,100 students living in Kent, [[Franklin Township, Portage County, Ohio|Franklin Township]], [[Brady Lake, Ohio|Brady Lake]], and [[Sugar Bush Knolls, Ohio|Sugar Bush Knolls]], as well as a small portion of southern [[Streetsboro, Ohio|Streetsboro]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2015/01/property_tax_rates_for_2015_in.html |title=Property tax rates for 2015 up for most in Greater Cleveland/Akron (database) |accessdate=October 30, 2015 |date=January 20, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Plain Dealer]] |author=Exner, Rich}}</ref>  The district has seven schools including four elementary schools housing kindergarten through fifth grade with preschool housed at one elementary school; Stanton Middle School for grades 6–8; and [[Theodore Roosevelt High School (Kent, Ohio)|Theodore Roosevelt High School]], which houses grades 9–12. The superintendent is Tom Larkin, who began his tenure August 1, 2023. Larkin previously served as assistant superintendent and has been with the district since 1996.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kent City School District named a new superintendent |url=https://theportager.com/kent-city-school-district-named-a-new-superintendent/ |work=The Portager |date=June 21, 2023 |author=Hardesty, Tom |access-date=September 29, 2023}}</ref>

== History ==
The district was formed around 1860<ref name=wardle>{{cite book |last=Wardle |first=Michelle |title=Images of America: Kent|year=2005|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Charleston, South Carolina, USA|isbn=0-7385-3381-5|page=53}}</ref> by merging several smaller one-room school house districts into one centralized district for the village. As Kent was still known as Franklin Mills, the district was originally known as the "Franklin Union School District".<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Portage County Ohio|last=Brown|first=R.C|author2=Norris, J.E.|orig-year=First published in 1885|year=1972|publisher=Warner, Beers, and Company|location=[[Chicago, Illinois]]|page=441}} It is not clear when the district's name was changed to the current "Kent City School District."  It was still being referred to as "Franklin Union" in this book, 21 years after the name change to "Kent".</ref>  The district would continue to be known as a "Franklin Union" district even after residents voted to change the name of the village from Franklin Mills to Kent in 1864. During the 1860s, the district began to divide the students in the school houses by grade level. As a result of the curriculum and management changes, the district elected to close the schoolhouses and erect a centralized building for all grades. Although initially planned for 1868, construction delays prevented the building from opening until March 1869. During the school year leading up to the opening of the new building, which would initially be known as the "Union School" and later as "Central School," students in the high school grades were housed at the Franklin Township Hall<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.franklintownshipohio.org/about_franklin_township.htm|title=About Franklin Township|accessdate=2008-05-26|publisher=Franklin Township|date=2006|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513070340/http://www.franklintownshipohio.org/about_franklin_township.htm|archivedate=2008-05-13}}</ref> in Kent while all other grades remained at their respective school house. The building would serve as the home of all students until growth in the community necessitated the construction of two additional elementary schools: South School in 1880 and DePeyster School in 1888.<ref name=wardle/> Even with the new schools, the original Union/Central building would be the home of Kent High School until 1922.<ref name="wardle"/>

[[File:Kent Davey Elementary.jpg|left|300px|thumb|This building originally served as Theodore Roosevelt High School when it opened in 1922.  It would later serve as Davey Junior High School/Davey Middle School from 1959 to 1999, and since 2000, as Davey Elementary School.]]
As Kent continued to grow throughout the twentieth century, new schools and changes became necessary. A new high school was built in 1922 and was named in honor of [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. The original Union School continued to be used as an elementary school  known as Central School until 1953 when a new Central Elementary School was constructed on its predecessor's front yard. Following the completion of the new school, the Union School building was torn down. Additional elementary schools followed first with the construction of Longcoy Elementary School on the city's west side. By 1958 the high school had outgrown its facility, so a new high school building was built on the north side of the city. It retained the name of Theodore Roosevelt and the former high school building was rechristened as Davey Junior High School in the fall of 1959 when the new high school opened. 1959 also saw the merging of the [[Franklin Township, Portage County, Ohio|Franklin]] Local School District and the [[Brady Lake, Ohio|Brady Lake]] School District into the Kent City Schools,<ref>{{cite news|first=Roger|last=Di Paolo|title=New chapter for old school|work=[[Record-Courier (Ohio)|Record-Courier]]|publisher=Record Publishing|location=[[Kent, Ohio|Kent]] and [[Ravenna, Ohio]]|pages=A5|date=2006-03-19}}</ref> which added two more elementary schools: Franklin Elementary and Emma Williard (Brady Lake) Elementary. The 1960s saw the last elementary schools built in Kent with the opening of Holden Elementary in 1965 on the city's south side and Walls Elementary on the east side in 1966.<ref name="KHS">{{cite book|title=Kent Ohio: The Dynamic Decades|author=Kent Historical Society Book Committee|editor= Darrow, Ralph |year=1999|publisher=Kent Historical Society|location=[[Kent, Ohio]]|page=14}}</ref>  Most of South School was razed in 1966 following the completion of Holden except for the building's gym which was leased to the Kent Parks and Recreation Department and used as the Kent Recreation Center.  Enrollment growth through the 1960s and into the 1970s resulted in additions at Walls School, Davey Junior High School, and Roosevelt High School.  Also in 1970, the district entered into a cooperative agreement with the Stow-Munroe Falls, Cuyahoga Falls, Woodridge, Tallmadge, and Hudson school districts to provide vocational education.  This compact, known as the Six District Compact, was the first of its kind in the state of Ohio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sixdistrict.com/about/CompactHistory09.pdf |title=Six District Educational Compact |year=2009 |work=SixDistrict.com |publisher=Six District Educational Compact |accessdate=13 August 2010 |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716075851/http://www.sixdistrict.com/about/CompactHistory09.pdf |archivedate=16 July 2011 }}</ref>  In 1978, ninth graders were moved from Davey to Roosevelt, Emma Williard School was closed, and the school board moved into offices in the renovated DePeyster School building.<ref>Darrow, pp. 173-176</ref>

==Facilities==
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="7" style="background:red;" | Administrative
|-
! colspan=2 |Facility
! Location
! colspan=3 |Head
! Photo
|-
|colspan=2 |District offices
|321 N. DePeyster St.<br><small>{{coord|41|9|24|N|81|21|21|W|name=Kent City School District offices}}</small>
|colspan=3 |Tom Larkin, 
Superintendent
|[[File:Kent DePeyster 2.JPG|100px]]
|-
|colspan=2 |Transportation Center
|1633 St. Clair Ave.<br><small>{{coord|41|8|20|N|81|21|52|W|name=Kent City School District Transportation Center}}</small>
|colspan=3 |Richard Lewis<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kentschools.net/?page_id=332 |title=Transportation Information |year=2010 |work=KentSchools.org |publisher=Kent City School District |accessdate=31 August 2010}}</ref>
|[[File:Kent Schools Transportation Center.jpg|100px]]
|-
|colspan=2 |Christenson Operations Center
|1205 Brady Lake Rd.<br><small>{{coord|41|9|51|N|81|20|18|W|name=Kent City School District Christenson Operations Center}}</small>
|colspan=3 |Robert Munroe
|
|-
! colspan="7" style="background:red;" | Elementary schools
|-
!School
!Grades
!Location
!Principal
!Faculty*
!Enrollment*
!Photo
|-
|Davey Elementary School
|PK–5
|196 N. Prospect St.<br><small>{{coord|41|9|27|N|81|22|1|W|name=Davey Elementary School}}</small>
|Abbey Bolton<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kentschools.net/davey/about/ |title=About Davey |year=2010 |work=KentSchools.org |publisher=Kent City School District |accessdate=31 August 2010}}</ref>
|26<ref name=OEDS>{{cite web|url= https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3904416 |year=2022–23 |title= Kent City School District Search Results |publisher=[[National Center for Education Statistics]] |accessdate=September 29, 2023}}</ref>
|450<ref name=OEDS/>
|[[File:Kent Davey Elementary.jpg|100px]]
|-
|Holden Elementary School
|K–5
|132 W. School St.<br><small>{{coord|41|8|33|N|81|21|34|W|name=Holden Elementary School}}</small>
|Todd Poole<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kentschools.net/holden/about/ |title=About Holden |year=2010 |work=KentSchools.net |publisher=Kent City School District |accessdate=31 August 2010}}</ref>
|14<ref name=OEDS/>
|254<ref name=OEDS/>
|[[File:Holden Elementary.jpg|100px]]
|-
|Longcoy Elementary School
|K–5
|1069 Elno Ave.<br><small>{{coord|41|8|45|N|81|22|56|W|name=Longcoy Elementary School}}</small>
|Janice Swan<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kentschools.net/longcoy/about/ |title=About Longcoy |year=2010 |work=KentSchools.net |publisher=Kent City School District |accessdate=31 August 2010}}</ref>
|16<ref name=OEDS/>
|276<ref name=OEDS/>
|[[File:Longcoy Elementary.jpg|100px]]
|-
|Walls Elementary School
|K–5
|900 Doramor St.<br><small>{{coord|41|9|29|N|81|20|43|W|name=Walls Elementary School}}</small>
|Heidi Singer<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kentschools.net/walls/about/ |title=About Walls |year=2010 |work=KentSchools.net |publisher=Kent City School District |accessdate=31 August 2010}}</ref>
|21<ref name=OEDS/>
|367<ref name=OEDS/>
|[[File:Walls Elementary.jpg|100px]]
|-
! colspan="7" style="background:red;" | Middle school
|-
|Stanton Middle School
|6–8
|1175 Hudson Rd.<br><small>{{coord|41|10|8|N|81|21|47|W|name=Stanton Middle School}}</small>
|Kathy Scott<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kentschools.net/sms/about-stanton/ |title=About Stanton |year=2012 |work=KentSchools.net |publisher=Kent City School District |accessdate=October 5, 2012}}</ref>
|47<ref name=OEDS/>
|659<ref name=OEDS/>
|[[File:Kent Stanton 1.jpg|100px]]
|-
! colspan="7" style="background:red;" | High school
|-
|[[Theodore Roosevelt High School (Kent, Ohio)|Theodore Roosevelt High School]]
|9–12
|1400 N. Mantua St.<br><small>{{coord|41|10|8|N|81|21|22|W|name=Theodore Roosevelt High School}}</small>
|Dennis Love<ref name=rhsadmin>{{cite web |url=http://www.kentschools.net/rhs/directory/administration/ |title=Administration |year=2015 |work=KentSchools.net |publisher=Kent City School District |accessdate=June 18, 2015}}</ref>
|80<ref name=OEDS/>
|1,267<ref name=OEDS/>
|[[File:Kent Roosevelt front 2.jpg|100px]]
|}
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="7" style="background:red;" | Former schools
|-
!School
!Grades
!Location
!Building status
!Years operated
!Notes
!Photo
|-	
|Franklin Elementary School	
|K–5	
|6662 SR 43<br><small>{{coord|41|10|17|N|81|21|8|W|name=Franklin Elementary School}}</small>	
|Sold to [[Davey Tree Expert Company|Davey Tree]] in 2021<ref>{{cite news |title=Kent schools, Davey Tree Expert Co. exchange land on North Mantua Street and Hudson Road |url=https://www.record-courier.com/story/news/2021/05/01/kent-schools-agree-mutually-beneficial-exchange-davey-tree-expert-company-portage-ohio/7317782002/ |date=May 1, 2021 |newspaper=[[Record-Courier (Ohio)|Record-Courier]] |accessdate=July 19, 2021}}</ref>
|1922–2014	
|Served as Franklin Township School, 1922–1959
|[[File:Kent Franklin.jpg|100px]]	
|-
|Central School	
|	
|200 N. Mantua St.<br><small>{{coord|41|9|20|N|81|21|44|W|name=Central School Annex}}</small>	
|Leased to the LEAP program<ref>{{cite web |title=Addresses |url=https://www.theleapprogram.net/addresses |year=2021 |work=TheLEAPProgram.net |accessdate=July 19, 2021}}</ref>
|1953–2014	
|Housed Central Elementary School, 1953–2000<br>Annex of Roosevelt High School, 2000–2014
|[[File:Central Annex.jpg|100px]]
|-
|Emma Williard School
|1–8; K–6
|1945 Brady Lake Rd.<br><small>{{coord|41.168988|N|81.324028|W|format=dms|name=Emma Williard School}}</small>
|Sold to private developer; addition demolished, original building renovated into condos
|1923–1978
|Merged into Kent Schools 1959
|[[File:Emma Williard School.JPG|100px]]
|-
|Union School/Central School
|1–12; 1–8
|200 N. Mantua St.<br><small>{{coord|41.155978|-81.362330|format=dms|name=Union School}}</small>
|Demolished 1953
|1869–1952
|Housed all grades, 1869–1922<br>Replaced by new Central School, 1952
|
|-
|South School
|K–6
|1115 Franklin Ave.<br><small>{{coord|41.143306|-81.360104|format=dms|name=South School}}</small>
|Demolished 1966
|1880–1966
|Replaced by Holden Elementary School
|
|}

''* = enrollment and faculty numbers as of the 2018–19 school year''

==See also==
*[[History of Kent, Ohio]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://www.kentschools.net/ Kent City School District official website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110726093729/http://webapp2.ode.state.oh.us/reportcard/archives/RC_IRN.ASP?irn=044164 Kent City School District state report cards]

{{Education in Portage County, Ohio}}

[[Category:School districts in Ohio]]
[[Category:Education in Portage County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Kent, Ohio]]
[[Category:School districts established in 1860]]