This history of Magnolia School is taken from the second edition of Building for Learning: Seattle Public School Histories, which includes histories of every school building used by the district since its formation around 1862. The original essay was written for the 2002 first edition by Nile Thompson and Carolyn J. Marr, and updated for the 2024 edition by HistoryLink contributor Tom G. Heuser.
Portable School
Magnolia Bluff Annex opened in the fall of 1911 in a single portable at 28th Avenue W and W Boston Street, on property owned by Elizabeth Simpson. It operated until June 1918 as an annex to Lawton. After two years with grades 1-2, the annex generally served grades 1-4. In September 1921, a delegation of parents from the Magnolia Bluff and Carleton Park areas met with the Seattle School Board to point out the hazards of bus transportation that was dependent on a series of wooden trestles to get to Interbay School, which their children were forced to attend. They stated that some parents were keeping their children home because of the dangers. One week later the board passed a resolution establishing a portable school for Magnolia children in grades 1-3.
Magnolia School opened in a portable at 28th AVE W and W McGraw in September 1922, with 26 children in grades 1-3 from Interbay School. In 1926, a second portable was added to help house four classes of grades 1-6. This portable school operated under the direction of the Interbay School principal.
The permanent Magnolia School opened in fall 1927 as an independent school with grades 1-6. It increased to grades 1-7 the next year and grades 1-8 the next. In 1931, eight classrooms, an auditorium-lunchroom, and two play courts were added. Kindergarten classes began at Magnolia in 1934. By 1940, an overflow of more than 100 students was sent to Lawton School before a new wing, with four new classrooms, was added at Magnolia in 1941. In fall 1943, with the influx of military families during the war, 8th graders were sent to Queen Anne Junior High, which was at Queen Anne High School.
“They are thinking of establishing a crow curriculum at Magnolia school to accommodate three of the black birds which, like Mary’s famous lamb, insist on following children to classes,” so began a newspaper article in September 1942 after students made pets of crows over the summer. One bird, Oscar, had the habit of beating his wings against a 7th grade window. The other two, Jim and Jake, were also daily visitors, arriving in the morning for the flag-raising ceremony. Zella Allen, the principal, feared it would become a fad among her pupils. In 1946, a kindergarten classroom entered the Machine Age. A program sponsored by the Education Research Committee of the Office Equipment Manufacturing Institute had kindergartners learning how to type. The project involved an instructor who traveled throughout the country with 30 portable typewriters.
In 1947, 950 students filled a building designed to accommodate 800. This overcrowding led to the establishment of Briarcliff School in early 1949. Seventh graders remained at Magnolia until September 1952, when they were transferred to the new Catharine Blaine Junior High, along with principal Claude Turner.
In 1969, Magnolia received the first elementary Learning Resources Center in the Seattle School District. It was established in a rectangular, one-story addition located to the south of the auditorium. The Learning Resource Center was a larger library with extra program space.
Closed and Repurposed
Magnolia became a K-3 school in 1978 when it was paired with Dearborn Park to help achieve racial balance. When Magnolia closed in spring 1984, enrollment was down to 320. Students were sent to Blaine or Lawton.
During 1987-1989, Magnolia was the temporary home to Adams students and staff while that school was being rebuilt. In 1989-1990, Muir needed an interim site during renovation, so Muir students were transported to MagnoliaFrom 1993 to spring 2000, Magnolia was home to the alternative K-8 (origina ly K-6) African American Academy, which was created in 1991. Before Magnolia, the African American Academy program was located at Sharples. The African American Academy program blended African and African American history with the standard curriculum of Seattle Public Schools. The school struggled to find its footing until former SPS assistant superintendent Collin Williams came out of retirement to become principal in 1994. Under his leadership student achievement saw some improvement and enrollment grew from a low of 170 in 1994 to a high of 465 in 1999.
After the African American Academy moved to its permanent home on Beacon Hill, Magnolia became the interim site for Coe Elementary until 2003 while Coe’s permanent facility was being renovated. After Coe, Magnolia was used intermittently by the city’s fire and police departments for a number of years. For example, it provided temporary housing for a fire station and was used by S.W.A.T. teams for training. In 2015, the City of Seattle designated Magnolia School as a historic landmark with protections on the site, exterior, cafeteria, lobby, bookroom, classrooms, lighting fixtures and doors in the hallways, and four stairways.
Modernized
In November 2015, the Seattle School Board approved a proposed levy which was then approved by voters in February. The levy included funds to renovate and reopen Magnolia School with an addition. The architecture firm Mahlum designed the 30,800-square-foot addition, which included new wings for a gymnasium, three classrooms, and a library. The work was completed in the summer of 2019. The modernized school includes three kindergarten classrooms with toilets; 15 classrooms for grades 1-5; two classrooms for art and music; two classrooms for special education; a resource room; three learning commons; rooms for Access, Focus, and occupational/physical therapy; a gymnasium; a lunchroom/commons; and administrative spaces. In 2020, construction began on an additional six-classroom wing, which opened in the fall of 2021.
History
Magnolia School
Location: 2418 28th Avenue W
Building: 9-room brick
Architect: Floyd A. Naramore
Site: 2.45 acres
1927: New building opened on September 5
1931: Addition (Naramore)
1941: Addition (Naramore & Brady)
1969: Addition (Seattle School District)
1984: School Closed, Students transferred to Blaine or Lawton
1987-889: Interim location for Adams
1989-90: Interim location for Muir
1993: African American Academy moved in from Sharples
2000: African American Academy Program moved to a new school at 8311 Beacon Avenue S
2000-03: Interim location for Coe Elementary
2015: Designated as a landmark
2019: Renovation, addition (Mahlum); School reopened as Magnolia Elementary School
2021: Addition (Mahlum)
Magnolia Elementary in 2023
Location: 2418 24th Avenue W
Enrollment: 288
Configuration: K-5
Nickname: Orcas
Colors: Navy and teal
