Kingston High School

Kingston High School’s Origins

In December, 1965, the Fifth Hour Journalism Class of Kingston High School published a special booklet “KHS Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow. Issue editors were Lynn Bilicki and Helen Szpunar. Assistants were Bob Fox, Doug Kramer, and Terry Pyles, advisor was Tom Bradley. Following is the “Yesterday” part of that publication.

Kingston’s first school district was beginning to organize itself in the spring of 1864. Some progress was made and the following summer Miss Crawford taught the nineteen pupils attending for approximately three months. The log school house was located on what is now the Roy Cornish farm right about where the barn is located. The school was valued at about 127 dollars. The director was Philo L. King.

C. Depew succeeded Miss Crawford as teacher. For the amount of 15 dollars he taught school for three months. The textbook used were Sander’s Speller, Sander’s Reader, and Greenleaf’s Songster.

In 1869, the value of the school had gone up to about 200 dollars with the school in session for six months. At this time the average pay for teachers was 25 dollars.

By 1870, it was decided that the district needed a new school. The first frame school house was then built on the present site. Ten years later a new wing was added because more room was needed.

This school was adequate till the 1900’s. At that time Neil H. Burns was hired to build a new brick high school for the cost of $7,000. The brick was to be taken from the Fraubenkrailt Brick Kiln in Kingston. The school was completed in 1902. It contained four rooms: two on the first floor and two on the second floor.

The first accredited twelfth grade class to graduate from Kingston High School was in 1912. It consisted of six graduates. They were: Ray Cooper, Elva Stickle Coan, Bessie Moshier DeGrow, Eber Larson, Hazel Lester Larson, and George Grunwald. The superintendent at this time was Ben McComb.

In 1930, additional classrooms, a gym, locker rooms and toilet rooms were added for 140,000 dollars. The value of the building and property at this time was 208,000 dollars.

Three elementary rooms were constructed in 1946. The following year a cafeteria was built by donated labor. A modern school shop, Agricultural room, lab and office, and more rooms were added without bonding the people of Kingston. This was made through a contract with the Rural Agricultural Corporation. This contract stated that the Corporation would build the school and after 10 years the new addition would become the property of the school.

Up to 1952 the official name of the school was “Kingston High School.” After the Agricultural Corporation built the new addition the name was changed to “Rural Agricultural School.” In 1957, the name was again changed, this time to “Kingston Community School.” The enrollment at this time was approximately four hundred students. The value of the school at this time was 225,000 dollars.

There were no major changes until 1962, when an elementary Special Education room was added. The cost of this building was 10,800 dollars. The next and last major addition was in 1963 when four elementary rooms were built to meet the ever growing grade school. Now, once again we need more room.

The value of the buildings and property based on the cost less depreciation was $576,488.