18 Heritage 2011: Education October 28, 2011 www.plaintalk.net Timeline of Education in Clay Co. 1970 • Meckling Independent School District consolidates with Vermillion Independent School District. Pizza, Pasta & Broasted Chicken ? VHS From Page 16 its secondary school requirements. Schell notes that a local high school student back then could prepare himself or herself for admission to most college programs by utilizing the services of the preparatory department at the university. In 1911, the Central High School building was torn down, and a new, larger building was built directly to the east of the old site. Soon, however, the new high school building was outgrown, forcing school officials to construct an addition to the structure that nearly doubled the space available for students. The establishment of a junior high program and additions to each of the three school buildings were major developments in Vermillion’s public school system during the 1920s. Overcrowding in both the high school and elementary grades led to plans in 1917 for expansion of the physical plant and introduction of a state course of study for junior high schools. Seventh and eighth grade pupils had been placed in the high school building, but without junior high status. A proposal for a $50,000 bond issue failed to meet with the approval of voters in April 1917, thus postponing a solution to the problem for another three years. In the meantime, the board of education found it necessary to make use of the old convent building on High Street to accommodate the three intermediate grades, including the seventh. This became referred to as the North Side School to distinguish it from the West Side and the East Side buildings. An increasing number of high school tuition pupils has been adding to the congestion. In a special school election held in September 1920, voters approved a $150,000 bond issue. Most of the money was used to add a wing to the north side of the Vermillion High School building. The junior high grades were housed in the older part of that building. The remaining $25,000 were used to construct additions to the West Side and East Side elementary buildings, which were renamed in 1926 as the Rachel R. Austin and John L. Jolley schools. The establishment of the junior high building located in Eastgate Plaza on Cherry St. in Vermillion Check Out Our Daily Pizza Specials! The photo of the “old” Vermillion High School (TOP) appeared in the 1965 “Tanager,” the yearbook of Vermillion High School. The aerial shot (ABOVE), from the following year’s “Tanager,” shows how the present-day VHS building appeared in 1966. (Photos courtesy of Vermillion High School) made it possible to discontinue the use of the old convent. This building served Vermillion High School students until the fall of 1965, when classes began in what was then a brand new building that still serves as the community’s high school today. In 1999, voters approved a $5.6 addition to the high school. The improvements to the building were made with the issuance of $3.5 million of general obligation bonds. The remaining price tag on the proposal was paid by issuing $2.1 million in capital outlay certificates repaid from the district's capital outlay budget. The addition includes a new commons and kitchen area, a new auxiliary gymnasium, and a new auditorium. The old high school building was torn down at about the same time the present high school opened in 1966, to make room for the present-day city library and water treatment plant on Church Street. FREE DELIVERY 624.8000 OPEN DAILY 11AM-11PM