This history of Washington Middle 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 Casey McNerthney.
Washington Middle School
Few schools can look back in their history and find a grade school, a junior high school, and a high school. At its inception in 1906 as Franklin School, Washington had a dual purpose. An impressive old-world style building opened in the 1906-1907 school year as Franklin School, named for Benjamin Franklin, the American statesman and inventor. Not only did it house 316 students in grades 1-8, it also held the High School Annex, which moved to Franklin from Summit School.
In 1906, Seattle High School, located at 1625 Broadway Avenue, was renamed Washington High School (see Broadway), so the upper-grades program from Summit was renamed the Washington High School Annex. When Washington High School was renamed Broadway in 1908, the upper grades program at Franklin became Franklin High School. With the increase in Seattle’s overall high school enrollment, the elementary program was closed at Franklin, and the school operated solely as a high school from 1909-1912.
When a new Franklin High School opened in the Mount Baker neighborhood in September 1912, the high school student body relocated to this new school and the school on Main Street and 18th returned to being a grade school. The new name chosen, Washington School, was derived from the high school program housed there in 1906-1908. In addition to regular classes for grades 1-8, there were four special education classes under Nellie Goodhue, the first principal. Kindergarten classes were added the following year. The School for the Deaf occupied four classrooms at Washington after it was moved there from Longfellow for the 1912-1913 school year. The special education classes were transferred to Olympic Special School in 1917. The School for the Deaf moved to Minor on October 1, 1921.
Enrollment Peaks
Washington’s enrollment averaged between 600 and 800 students, peaking at 890 during the 1931-1932 school year. Principal Arthur G. Sears came to the school in 1928 because he wanted to work with immigrant children to ensure that they received a good education. At Washington, nearly half of the students were Japanese American. They were joined by large numbers of recently arrived European Jews, as well as Chinese and Filipino immigrants.
In September 1938, Washington became a 7th and 8th grade center with an enrollment of 706. With the addition of 9th graders in 1946-47, the school became George Washington Junior High.
New School on Jackson
Plans for building a new junior high on a site near 23rd Avenue S and Jackson Street were announced in December 1958. When the new school opened in 1963, the old building closed and became the district’s Occupational Guidance Center, housing classes in English for the Foreign Born and Basic Reading, as well as Prevocational Classes, the Family Life Education Program, and the Manpower Development and Training Program. The new Washington Junior High School building, located on the south side of Jackson Street, opened in 1963 with approximately 800 students, though it was designed to hold about 1,100. The campus was large and sprawling, and the gymnasiums and music rooms were located on a lower level. A portion of the property is leased to the Seattle Parks Department and is a part of Judkins Park.
In 1970, just seven years after it opened, the junior high school closed and was repurposed as an annex for Garfield High School to support the district’s 4-4-4 plan. For eight years, the school was known as Garfield B. It housed academic and vocational education classes for high school students. A special program to help school-age parents continue their education began there in 1976-77. When Pacific School was declared unsafe in the fall of 1975, the Pacific Prevocational School, a program for students with a range of disabilities, moved into Washington over winter break with Garfield B students.
In 1978, under the Seattle Plan, the district’s student assignment plan designed to desegregate schools, the school board decided Madrona was needed again as an elementary school. In September that year, middle school students from Madrona were moved into the Washington building, which became Washington Middle School. At the same time, the Pacific Handicapped Program was moved to Wilson. For over 40 years, Washington was the site for the district’s middle school sections of the Accelerated Progress Program (APP), the advanced learning program for students who place in the top 1.5 percent on a standardized exam. The school also housed a special education program, an award-winning jazz band, and an orchestra.
In 2014, over 1,100 students were enrolled at Washington, but over the course of the next few years, enrollment dropped by nearly half. This decline can be attributed to changes in the advanced learning program and a number of new attendance-area middle schools that opened to students. Jane Addams reopened as a middle school in 2014, Robert Eagle Staff opened as a new middle school in 2017, and Meany reopened as a middle school in 2017.
In the 2021-2022 school year, Washington was one of five of the district’s Highly Capable Pathway Middle Schools. Due to Washington’s size and capacity, the school is home to various high school Skills Center programs, including automotive technology, firefighting, and emergency medical services.
History
Franklin School
Location: 18th Avenue S and Main Street
Building: 20-room wood frame and stucco
Architect: James Stephen
Site: 1.41 acres
1904: Site acquired
1906: Named on March 12; opened in September with grades 1-8; high school annex moved in from Summit; program renamed Washington High School Annex
1909: Elementary Program Closed; Renamed Franklin High School
1912: Special Programs co-located at Washington, including School for the Deaf
1938: Became Washington 7th & 8th Grade Center
1946: Became George Washington Junior High School; site expanded to 2.4 acres
1963:Closed in June: Became Occupational Guidance Center and administrative offices
n.a.: Demolished
George Washington Junior High School
Location: 2101 S Jackson St
Building: 2-story
Architect: John Graham & Co.
Site: 18 acres
1958: Site acquired
1963: Opened
1970: Closed as junior high in June
1970-78: Operated as Garfield B
1975-78: Pacific Prevocational School co-located at Washington
1978: Became Washington Middle School in September
2006: Garfield auto shop renovation @ Washington
Washington Middle School in 2023
Enrollment: 601
Address: 2101 S Jackson Street
Nickname: Junior Huskies
Configuration: 6-8
Colors: Purple and gold
