This history of North Queen Anne 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.
North Queen Anne
At one time, the Ross land claim encompassed both sides of the creek that ran from Lake Union into Salmon Bay. John Ross built his family’s house on the south side of the creek, north of today’s Seattle Pacific University campus. The house was demolished, and the path of the creek was reoriented during the construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal (1911-1917). In 1873, Mary Jane McMillan Ross opened the first school in the area on the second floor of their farmhouse. The Rosses moved in 1883 to the north side of the creek and re-established their school there (Ross School).
Among the subsequent homesteaders to the north side of Queen Anne were the Petersons, who came in 1880. The Petersons sent their children across the creek to the Ross School. For entertainment, the children went boating on a small lake near their property or played tennis on courts built by their father. In 1911, they sold the land with their tennis courts to the Seattle School District as a site for a future elementary school.
In 1912, the Seattle School Board authorized a new school building because Hay, Coe, and Day were overcrowded. What’s more, students living on the north side of Queen Anne were unable to get to Ross and Day after a bridge was removed around 1913, and the waterway was expanded to connect the saltwater of Puget Sound to the freshwater of Lake Washington via Lake Union for boat traffic. A temporary school called North Queen Anne opened as an annex to Ross. First graders met in a room at a storefront laundry at the southeast corner of Florentia Street and Dexter Avenue. The next fall, North Queen Anne School moved to a portable farther west on Florentia, near First Avenue W, and across the street from the permanent building that was under construction. The portable operated in split shifts, with 21 pupils in the 1st grade in the morning and 39 pupils in grades 2-3 in the afternoon.
The new building was ready just six weeks into the 1914-1915 school year for the students who had been in the portable. Until it became an independent school in 1918, the principal of Ross School came to visit North Queen Anne School every two weeks.
By 1916-1917, a new playfield was constructed to provide more space for outdoor activities. Space was created by removing a high bluff to the south of the building, the site of the small lake used by the Peterson children. The resulting dirt piles made at least one classroom so dark that reading class had to be held next to the windows.
New Addition
Enrollment at North Queen Anne increased annually with the addition of a grade. That is, from 1914 to 1921 (except for 1917-1918), the oldest children simply moved up a grade and remained at the school until they graduated from 8th grade. When the full spectrum of grades 1-8 was included in 1920-1921, over 300 students attended North Queen Anne. In 1922, a new addition of eight classrooms was built on the east side. Wood-framed play courts with chain-link enclosures were added to the south facade of the building at this time.
For many years, a gravel pit was located immediately behind the school. Although it was fenced, there were steep cliffs just to the south of the school grounds and a 30-foot-deep pit. The gravel pit was closed in 1937 after the community acted to remove this hazard. Eventually the pit was transformed into a playfield by Seattle Parks Department, known as Queen Anne Bowl.
At the beginning of World War II, the school served as a community headquarters where citizens registered for ration books. A war bond and stamp drive held in spring 1943 raised enough money to purchase five jeeps for the army. In 1944, enrollment at the school reached 369, and the 8th grade transferred to the new Queen Anne Eighth Grade Center, which had opened at Queen Anne High School in 1943. In October 1957, a fire destroyed the school auditorium. Also lost were the school’s library books, which had been shelved at the rear of the auditorium. During summer 1958, a renovation took place, and the former auditorium and lunchroom were combined into a single unit. A long stage was built, which served as the school library when not in use as a stage. In 1973, because of parent-staff interest, the library moved into expanded quarters. Additionally, classes for primary and intermediate visually impaired students were placed at the school.
Friends with SPU
While in operation, North Queen Anne School maintained a cooperative relationship with Seattle Pacific University, which is located just down the hill to the north. Curriculum materials, teacher training programs, and the use of the university’s recreational facilities enhanced opportunities for North Queen Anne students.
In June 1981, North Queen Anne was closed as part of the district’s building consolidation and financial conservation plan. At the time, enrollment stood at 96, the lowest of the city’s public elementary schools. By necessity, it had included a couple of “split” classes of two grades, and its nine kindergartners had attended John Hay School. In 1982, the school was leased to the Northwest Center for the Retarded (known today as Northwest Center), a leader in advancing equal opportunities for children and adults with disabilities. Services for children provide Early Supports for infants and toddlers, inclusive Early Learning, and School Age programs.
In 2014, Northwest Center vacated, and the building’s renovation plans were drawn up by Studio Meng Strazzara to prepare the building for Cascade Parent Partnership (CPP), a Seattle Public School District Alternative Learning Experience (ALE) program that partners with parents to create, oversee, and direct individual student learning plans. The program moved into the newly renovated North Queen Anne building in February 2015 from Wilson-Pacific, where it was known as the Home School Resource Center. Part of the renovations included the installation of a floor pattern designed by a CPP parent. Shortly before the move, the program changed to a K-8 service model from a K-12 service model.
In fall 2021, construction work began to upgrade the existing school building. Program spaces were reconfigured and upgraded to meet the evolving needs of the Cascade programs. Studio Meng Strazzara served again as project architects. In fall 2021, the new 6-12 virtual option school program was introduced and managed under Cascade. A year later, the K-5 virtual option school program that began in 2021 moved to Cascade from Queen Anne Elementary. These ‘virtual’ schools were introduced in response to the COVID 19 pandemic, when families were reluctant to send their students back to in-person learning. Students who participate and graduate from the 6-12 Virtual Option program graduate with a diploma from Seattle Public Schools.
During construction work, the Cascade programs relocated to John Marshall School as an interim site alongside two other schools. The newly renovated North Queen Anne building opened in fall of 2023.
History
North Queen Anne School
Location: 2919 1st Avenue W
Building: 4-room, 1-story brick
Architect: Edgar Blair
Site: 2.27 acres
1914: Opened as annex to Ross
1918: Became independent school in fall
1922: Addition (Floyd A. Naramore)
1981: Closed in June
1982: Leased to Northwest Center for the Retarded
2014: Ended lease with Northwest Center; Renovated for Cascade Parent Partnership (Studio Meng Strazzara)
2015: Building reopened in February; Cascade Parent Partnership moved in from Wilson-Pacific
2021: Building closed for contruction; Program relocated to John Marshall as interim site
2023: School reopened; Renovation (Studio Meng Strazzara)
Cascade Parent Partnership at North Queen Anne in 2023
Location: 2919 1st Avenue W
Enrollment: 179
Configuration: K-12
Nickname: Crows
Colors: Lime green and blue
