This history of Greenwood Elementary 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 Ryan Anthony Donaldson.
Brick Schoolhouse
In 1891, Seattle city limits were extended past Green Lake to N 85th Street. By the early 1900s, the Greenwood neighborhood consisted of two or three stores and a few scattered houses surrounded by a marshy wetland. From the lumber camps to the north and west, logs were floated into Greenwood to be hauled to Green Lake on their way to sawmills. In 1910, trollies first reached N 85th Street on Greenwood Avenue, fueling development of the area.
The Seattle School District owned property west of Third Avenue, but this land was judged too swampy for construction and sold. Pioneer David T. Denny owned a 40-acre tract west of Greenwood Avenue, between 80th and 85th streets. This property was laid out as a cemetery and included a little used Native American cemetery. In January 1909, the Seattle School District purchased a portion of the unused land for a new school. Construction of a Jacobean-style school began in 1909 with a design identical to Emerson and Hawthorne, also being constructed at the time. James Stephen, the district architect, declared this brick design more sanitary, better equipped, and more convenient than earlier wood frame buildings. Greenwood School opened with 77 students in grades 1-7. Regrading of the streets in 1914-1915 left the building and grounds considerably higher than the roadways, necessitating the construction of retaining walls on three sides of the grounds.
The school grew rapidly, and, by 1918-1919, enrollment had soared to 655. Following passage of a bond issue in June 1919, Floyd Naramore, the new district architect, designed an addition for the building. A large rectangular wing running perpendicular to the axis of the original structure was built on the west side, adding much-needed classroom space and an auditorium. In 1924, the east half of the present site was acquired, and a playfield was installed.
The PTA began in 1923 and, through the years, sponsored Camp Fire and Girl Scouts, initiated improvements to the playground, raised money to buy books and magazines for the school library, and established a health clinic for children about to enter school. On the last day of school in June 1924, the PTA supported the first Greenwood School picnic at Woodland Park.
Enrollment at the school continued to grow and peaked at 917 in 1930-1931. After that, the number of students declined gradually. In 1941, 8th graders were transferred to a junior high school, either Alexander Hamilton or James Monroe. Starting in 1949-1950, Greenwood served K through 6 grades, and enrollment leveled off around 600.
Greenwood pupils participated in a variety of programs in 1974, including an outdoor education program at Fort Flagler, career education, one of the district’s American Indian Heritage Programs, an independent learning center, swimming, and a ceramics class. Greenwood kept a K-6 configuration under the district’s mandatory desegregation plan (1978-1988) when many other elementary school grade configurations were changed.
There was much discussion of Greenwood’s future during the 1990s because of the need for seismic upgrades to the old structure. It was the last building on the Building Excellence Program upgrade list. When assessed for earthquake safety, it was found to be within the safe category. In January 2000, the school board approved a plan that preserved the 1909 section of the building and demolished the 1921 addition. Though Greenwood was nominated for a Seattle Landmark and the nomination met the criteria, the Landmark Board Members failed to have a quorum to vote on the nomination. The district agreed to a modified design review process using suggestions by the landmarks board, but there is no formal control and incentive agreement in place to restrict future redevelopment.
The plan included a new gymnasium and auditorium. Construction began in summer 2001 and was completed in September 2002. Burr Lawrence Rising + Bates Architects worked on the project, which was awarded Excellence in Design Achievement by School Planning & Management Magazine in 2003. Students were relocated to McDonald as their interim site.
History
Greenwood School
Location: 144 NW 80th Street
Building: 9-room, 3 story brick
Architect: James Stephen
Site: 1.31 acres
1909: Opened
1921: Addition (Floyd A. Naramore)
1924: Site expanded to 2.83 acres
2001: School closed for construction; Students relocated to McDonald as an interim site
2002: School reopened; Renovation and new addition (Burr, Lawrence, Rising + Bates)
Greenwood Elementary in 2023
Enrollment: 324
Address: 144 NW 80th Street
Nickname: Stars
Configuration: K-5
Colors: Green and white
