Whittier Grade School
The seven room Wendell Phillips School was built in 1903. It served as a school for a number of years until it was enlarged and eventually used as the trade school for incorrigible boys.
The building became Whittier Elementary School in 1917, when a new trade school, the Cleveland School, was built.
On February 2, 1953, two Whittier students set fire to the building and destroyed it. Students were temporarily housed at the Civic Center on Harrison Ave; the 1953 8th grade class graduated from the Civic Center.
The school was rebuilt on the same site in 1954. In 1963 another new section was added. Today, Whittier remains an active public elementary school.
George Parrett served as the Whittier School principal from 1978-1998, and the park behind the school is named after him. Whittier’s gym, named for Kenneth Julson, principal from 1945-1968, at one time hosted all the city’s elementary basketball games due to the size and seating for spectators.
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