D41 schools

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District 41 milestones 1836 Early settlers built and began operating the first school in what would eventually become Milton Township. The one-room log cabin was located a quarter mile south of Forest Hill Cemetery (on what is now Riford Road) in the northwest corner of the area called Babcock’s Grove. At about the same time, the influence of the Stacy Family in that corner of the Grove resulted in the name change to Stacy’s Corner. 1841 When the State of Illinois began funding public schools, the Stacy’s Corner schoolhouse was constructed to replace the log cabin. The new one-room Stacy’s Corner School was located on the west side of what is now Main Street, just south of the present Five Corners intersection. 1849 Galena and Chicago Union Railroad Company tracks were laid south of Stacy’s Corner, through the center of the town then called Danby. The rail tracks created what would become the dividing line between the north and south areas of present day District 41. 1853 The first school south of the railroad tracks, a small frame structure, was built on the site of the current Glen Ellen Civic Center. The first teacher in the Danby Duane Street School was Henry Benjamin, and other early prominent teachers were Walter Sabin and Georgia Allen. Although this was the second school in what is now Glen Ellyn, it was the first in its district. The Stacy’s Corner School remained a one-school district in the north. 1862 A larger wooden schoolhouse was built to replace the first Duane Street School. 1874 The name of the town of Danby was changed to Prospect Park. 1889 A new era for the town was launched by the excavation of Lake Ellyn on land owned by Thomas E. Hill and Seth Baker. The lake was named for Hill’s wife, Ellen, using the Welsh spelling of her name. With the construction of the lake began the development of Prospect Park as a Chicago suburb. 1892 A third Duane Street School was constructed, and its 1862 predecessor was moved to Crescent Boulevard where it served for many years as a gas company and real estate office. In this year, the residents of the town changed its name for the final time, from Prospect Park to Glen Ellyn. In the Stacy’s Corner district, that school was renamed Forest Glen for a ravine located on the north end of present-day Park Boulevard. 1909 Voters in the south approved the construction of a “north side” school, Hawthorne, on the site of the present-day school bearing that name. Also this year, voters in the Stacy’s Corner district approved the building of a new school to replace the one-room structure they had used since 1841. The second, larger Forest Glen was a white, two-story cinder block building that served students until 1950, when the present Forest Glen was opened. (The 1841-built Stacy’s Corner/Forest Glen School still stands as part of a home northwest of Five Corners. The second Forest Glen was eventually demolished, and in 1970, on that same site, the District 41 Administration Center was constructed.) 1912 The Forest Glen PTA, the first in the community, was founded by teacher M. W. Hollinger. (The present Glen Ellyn PTA council was established in 1930. 1920 The first section of Main Street School was built. (The second story was added in 1924.) 1923 The forerunner of Benjamin Franklin School, the Taylor Avenue School, was situated on the northwest corner of Hill and Taylor Avenues. This was a “portable” building that housed only grades one and two. 1925 An addition to Hawthorne School was erected. (In 1940, the addition became the entire school when the 1909 section of the building was demolished.) 1928 Duane Street School was converted into a junior high school (grades seven and eight.) 1929 Benjamin Franklin School was completed, and the new junior high school was opened on the Duane Street site. (The junior high still stands as the Glen Ellyn Civic Center.) 1931 The Forest Glen (Stacy’s Corner) district (#1) was consolidated into the Glen Ellyn district to the south (#41). 1941 An addition to the junior high on Duane Street was completed. 1950 The present Forest Glen School was opened, as was another addition to Main Street School. 1951 A major survey and study of District 41 was undertaken to determine future building needs. 1954 Construction began on a new junior high school (the present Hadley Jr. High), and a new unit was added to Benjamin Franklin. 1956 The new Glen Ellyn Jr. High School (now Hadley) opened. The old junior high was re-designated Duane Street School and housed fifth and sixth graders from the south side of the district. Also this year, Spalding School was built in the northeast corner of the district on land that had been donated by Mrs. Roy G. Spalding in memory of her husband. 1957 Spalding School was dedicated, and the construction of Churchill School began. 1958 Churchill School opened. 1962 Both Glen Oak and Abraham Lincoln Schools were opened. Duane Street School ceased to house students but continued to serve as the central office of District 41. 1970 A number of major building projects began. Duane Street School was sold to the Village of Glen Ellyn and was remodeled in to the present Civic Center. Additions to Churchill, Hawthorne, Forest Glen and the junior high were begun. 1974 Glen Ellyn Jr. High School was renamed for William M. Hadley, the retiring superintendent who had served District 41 since 1956. 1978 Glen Oak and Spalding Schools were closed due to declining enrollment, and their total student populations were transferred to Benjamin Franklin and Churchill Schools, respectively. 1981 Hawthorne and Main Street Schools were closed due to declining enrollment. Hawthorne students were re-assigned to Churchill and Forest Glen Schools. Main Street students were transferred to Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. 1982 District 41 executed lease/sale agreements with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County for Glen Oak School and with the Glen Ellyn Park District for Main Street School. (Hawthorne and Spalding remain district property and are leased to a number of tenants, including several pre-schools and education-related organizations). 1986 Hadley Jr. High was named one of the nation’s outstanding elementary schools by the U.S. Department of Education. 1987 Rising enrollment prompted the district to conduct a detailed study of attendance boundaries and facilities usage. The study committee recommended boundary adjustments on the north side (between Churchill and Forest Glen) in the event enrollment continued to increase, but implementation of these recommendations was not required. 1989 Joyce C. Carey, faculty member at Benjamin Franklin School, was named by the State Board of Education as the Illinois Teacher of the Year and recipient of the Illinois Distinguished Educator Award (IDEA). 1991 Again prompted by increasing enrollment, another study of facilities usage and attendance boundaries was conducted. The committee recommended that, as needed, Spalding School could be reopened as either an early childhood center, for all district kindergarten students, or a K-5 school. Thus far (September 1992), there has been no need to implement this recommendation. 1993 Attendance boundaries were adjusted between Franklin and Lincoln. Families have been

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