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Revision as of 03:30, 14 April 2011
West Aurora Public School District 129 has a tradition in Aurora, Illinois going back to the 1860s. The West Side High School and East Side High Schools have played an annual football game against each other since 1893. Four of the current elementary buildings are reported to be four of the oldest still in use in Aurora and in Kane County. Mary Todd school was originally constructed as Oak Street school, on the ruins of a prior building, and was built by the WPA in the 1930s. Its interior still features WPA murals and sculpture. Joseph Freeman Elementary School was dedicated in 1928. Abraham Lincoln Elementary, originally the Lake Street School, and Nancy Hill Elementary, originally the Illinois Avenue School, are both over a century old.
Two other school buildings exist on the historic sites of original school buildings. The original Montgomery Elementary School was built in 1891. The present Nicholson Elementary, itself built in the 1950s and 1960s, replaced the original Montogomery Elementary building on the same site. The original Galena Street School was built in 1895. It was renamed Greenman Elementary in 1915, and was replaced by a new building, constructed on an adjacent lot, in 2004.
The present "West Side" school district covers the city of Aurora with an eastern boundary of the Fox River, a southern boundary of the Kane County and Kendall County line, a western boundary of Aurora's city limits, and a northern boundary of the village limits of North Aurora, Illinois. West Side District 129 absorbed the former North Aurora School District #51 in the early 1960s, constructing Schneider Elementary in that village's east side in 1963, and Goodwin Elementary (as a replacement for the former North Aurora School, which still stands at the corner of State Street and Lincolnway in North Aurora), in 1968.
The West Side District is presently the only one of the three major districts serving Aurora to own and operate its own fleet of School Buses (IPSD has a contract agreement with Laidlaw and East Side District 131 does not operate any school buses). Students from Aurora, North Aurora, Montgomery, Illinois and Sugar Grove, Illinois attend West Aurora schools. In addition to the list below, fourth grade students from Freeman Elementary and fifth grade students from McCleery Elementary attend classes in the Institute for Collaboration building of the School of Education at Aurora University, also known as the Partnership School. While the students are still technically enrolled in their "parent" schools, the classes are overseen by the Partnership School's own principal.
Elementary schools
| School's name | School's namesake | Location | Mascot | Principal | Year opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fearn Elementary | Harold G. Fearn, former Superintendent of Schools | North Aurora | Falcons | Anne Giarrante | 2001 |
| Freeman Elementary | Captain Joseph Hewett Freeman, former Superintendent of Schools, former Illinois State Superintendent of Schools | Aurora | Mustangs | Michael S. Smith | 1928 |
| Goodwin Elementary | Lucia Goodwin, former teacher | North Aurora | Eagles | Eric Benson | 1968 |
| Greenman Elementary (originally Galena Street School) | A. V. Greenman, former superintendent | Aurora | Lions | Kristine Webster | 1895, original building — 2004, current building |
| Hall Elementary | Frank Haven Hall, former superintendent | Aurora | Huskies | Lisa Polomsky | 1960 |
| Hill Elementary (originally Pennsylvania Avenue School) | Nancy Hill, former teacher and principal | Aurora | Hawks | Cindy Larry | 1888 |
| Lincoln Elementary (originally Lake Street School) | Abraham Lincoln | Aurora | Lynx | N/A | 1892 - 2009 |
| McCleery Elementary | Wayne McCleery, former superintendent | Aurora | Mustangs | Cherie Esposito | 1957 |
| Nicholson Elementary (originally Montgomery Elementary School) | Grace Nicholson, former teacher | Montgomery | Brett Burton | 1891, original building — 1953/1962, current building | |
| Schneider Elementary | J. P. Schneider, early settler for whom Schneider's Mill/Schneider's Crossing was named before it was renamed North Aurora | North Aurora | Bulldogs | Michael P. Smith | 1963 |
| Smith Elementary | Gertrude Scott Smith, former teacher | Aurora | Kathy DeTolve | 1963 | |
| Todd Early Childhood Center (originally Oak Street School) | Mary Todd, former teacher | Aurora | Spelling Bees | Michelle Shabaker | 1934 |
Middle schools
| School's name | School's namesake | Location | Mascot | Principal | Year opened | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herget Middle School | Robert Herget, former teacher, Principal and Associate Superintendent | Aurora | Huskie | Rachel Hattendorf | 2005 | |
| Jefferson Middle School | Thomas Jefferson | Aurora | J-Hawks (stands for Junior Blackhawks, after the West High Blackhawkks) | Patricia Cross | 1956 | |
| Jewel Middle School | Gary D. Jewel, former teacher and superintendent | North Aurora | Jaguar | Greg Scalia | 1998 | |
| Washington Middle School | George Washington | Aurora | Generals | Deborah Meyers | 1964 |
High school
| School's name | Location | Mascot | Principal | Year opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Aurora High School | Aurora | Blackhawks | Dan Bridges | 1867, original high school — 1905, second location (still standing) — 1953, current location |
Special Education
| School's name | School's namesake | Location | Mascot | Principal | Year opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hope D. Wall School (run in cooperation with East Side District 131) | Hope D. Wall, special education teacher | Aurora | Rockets | Doris Hillman | 1969 |