Fifty years ago the doors of the new Dewey School opened and the first group of boys and girls entered the sparkling halls and shining classrooms, eager to learn. The students and staff of Dewey School are celebrating the building's 50th birthday this fall by dedicating a new addition to the playground equipment in honor of this milestone.

In the early 1950s, the post-war baby boom caused the Chillicothe Board of Education to build new neighborhood elementary schools as the need for classrooms increased throughout the city. The Irvinbilt Company constructed the building at 905 Dickinson Street as the schoolhouse for the fast-growing west side of town. For only $248,000, the first floor was finished and
opened in the fall of 1953. The eight classrooms were bursting with 334 students in grades kindergarten through fifth. With this new school overcrowded from the start, the school board elected to continue construction, adding the second floor and kitchen the following year.

Imagine building three elementary schools across town, followed by a junior high school, in the span of only a few years. The school board and administration predicted an explosion of students. The large number of first graders in 1953, the children born in 1947, represented the first wave of what was to become the Baby Boomers. The Dewey enrollment figures nearly doubled from the 160 elementary students housed at the High School building the year before, to the 334 students who were the first to attend the new building in the fall of 1953. The voters passed the bonds and the tax-payers of Chillicothe took on the obligation gladly. They knew the value of an education. They did it for the children.

Dewey School has been the place of learning for an estimated 300 students each year for 50 years. At one time students from kindergarten through seventh grade attended Dewey. For many years Dewey was a K-6 building. In the early 70s the schools of the district were realigned into attendance centers and Dewey became home to all the first and second graders of the district. When the current high school opened in 2000, the elementary schools were once again reorganized and Dewey became the kindergarten-grade 1 center.

School life was different in the 1950s. Most students walked to Dewey School from the nearby blocks. The city did not stretch as far west and north as it does currently, and the whole west side was within walking distance. Most mothers did not work outside the home. All the children from a family attended the same building, and most walked home for lunch each day. Children dressed up for school. Skirts or dresses were the norm for girls. Boys wore slacks to class, seldom attired in jeans for school. Teachers worked in suits and high heeled pumps, clothing well suited for teaching from a chair behind the desk. . . . . .

All but one of the 11 air-conditioning units were being installed July 14, 2006, at Dewey School and Chillicothe R-2 School District officials reported that the air conditioning project is on schedule. Work will be finished by Aug. 1. Work on the air conditioning project has been going on all summer. The cost of the project is $500,000 and $350,000 is being contributed by the Hedrick Foundation and the Lawson Trust. C-T

Board Approves Air Conditioning Bid of $444,000
Work on Dewey School to begin this spring
C-T article by Laura Schuler, C-T City Editor 03 22 06

Chillicothe R-2 School Board members approved a $444,000 bid from Case Contracting, LLC, to install air conditioning at Dewey Elementary School on March 21 during the regular March meeting held at district headquarters. The $500,000 air-conditioning project is slated to begin this spring and be completed before the start of the 2006-07 school year.

Dewey School is the third such building within the district to undergo such a project. In 2003, Central School received a new air conditioning system and a year later, a new system was installed in Field School. In all three cases, the district received generous funding from the Hedrick Foundation. The foundation has pledged $300,000 which will go towards the Dewey School project this year. The remaining funds, Superintendent Dale Wallace explained, will come from the school district.

Contracts For Dewey Air Conditioning Projects Approved
Energy conservation efforts considered 
By LAURA SCHULER/C-T City Editor,Wednesday, December 21, 2005

The Chillicothe R-2 School Board approved the engineering and project manager contracts necessary to get the ball rolling on installing air conditioning at Dewey School. The board took the action during the regular December meeting held the night of December 20, 2006 at district headquarters. Specifically, the board approved a contract with Henderson Engineers, Inc., for $37,000 (plus reimbursables) and a contract with Irvinbilt for $16,000.

The Hedrick Foundation is funding the majority of the project, but the school district has budgeted $135,000 for the project this fiscal year, which ends June 30. The same amount will be budgeted for the project during the next fiscal year, since the project (which will begin this spring), is expected to be completed some time next summer. The board also authorized the district to allow guaranteed performance contract companies to conduct an analysis to determine what the district could do in terms of energy conservation in its older buildings. Superintendent Dale Wallace advised the board that the district should keep its improvements limited to good energy savings measurers such as replacing lights because they offer a good payback for the district - i.e., they use less energy.

Replacing the windows in the district's aging buildings is a project that the superintendent advised the board to wait on, at least until the new foundation formula (school funding formula) is fully phased in. Wallace said that once the school funding plan has been phased-in, its financial effects on the district will be known and at that time the district will have paid off some of its capital project debts other than general obligation bonds. Then, Wallace said, the district will be able to look at replacing windows, which he described as a fairly expensive project. 

Hedrick Foundation To Help Fund Air Conditioning At Dewey
Tuesday, December 6, 2005

During the  teacher award ceremony held Monday, December 5, 2005, Wallace announced to the crowd that the Hedrick Foundation has again agreed to assist the district in installing air conditioning at Dewey School. The foundation has held a primary role in helping to fund the heating and air conditioning projects at both Central and Field Schools in recent years.