Avondale School District
{{Short description|Public school district in Michigan, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox school district
| image =
| name = Avondale School District
| streetaddress = 2940 Waukegan St
| city = Auburn Hills
| state = Michigan
| zipcode = 48326
| country = United States
| school_board = Avondale Board of Education
| faculty = 244.91 (on FTE basis)
| us_nces_district_id = {{NCES District ID|2603690|district_name=Avondale School District|ref_name=NCES|access_date=October 31, 2023}}
| enrollment = 3,826 (2021–22)
| coordinates = {{coord|42|37|42.7|N|83|13|56.3|W|region:US-MI_type:edu_scale:25000|display=it}}
| type = Public school district
| established =
| budget = $59,147,000
(2019–20)
| website = {{URL|https://www.avondaleschools.org/}}
}}
The Avondale School District is a public school district in Metro Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan, serving portions of Auburn Hills, Bloomfield Township, Rochester Hills, and Troy.{{Cite web |title=Maps: School Districts: Avondale School District |url=https://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/mgdl/pdfmaps/Schools/SD_esize_Avondale%20School%20District.pdf |access-date=2024-07-15 |website= |publisher=Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget |language= |via=}} As of the 2021–22 school year, the district serves 3,826 students.
History
The district is derived from Auburn Heights Rural Agricultural School District, which formed in 1947 from the consolidation of the following primary school districts: Auburn Heights, Stone, Stiles, and Elmwood.{{cite news| date= 6 May 1949| title= Registration Starts Monday in Avondale| work= Rochester Era}} The name Avondale comes from Avondale Park, a subdivision on Auburn Road in what was formerly Avon Township.{{cite news| date= 12 July 1929| title= Pontiac man to build in Avondale| publisher= Rochester Clarion| page= 1}} In a naming contest, four students chose the name Avondale and each received $10.{{cite news| date= 11 Feb 1949| title= Avondale selected as school name| publisher= Rochester Era| page= 1}}
Avondale High School was first operated within the Auburn Heights school building at the southwest corner of Squirrel and Waukegan in 1937.{{cite book| last= Randall| first= Natalie Kilmer| title= Pontiac Township 1827-1983| date=1983| page=55}} A new high school was constructed in 1951 on Auburn Road between Crooks Road and Livernois Road.{{cite book| author= Avondale High School| title= The Avonian| date= 1951}} This building became a middle school when the present high school opened in 1970.{{cite book| last= Randall| first= Natalie Kilmer| title= Pontiac Township 1827-1983| date=1983| page=55}}
By 1953, overcrowding beset the district, with one teacher reporting having 56 students.{{cite news| title= School housing request deferred; to negotiate.| date= 29 October 1953| publisher= Rochester Clarion| page= 4}} By 1954, the district was using several churches to help house its 2,304 students.{{cite news| last1= Mauro| first1= Nancy| last2= Brewer| first2= Jane| title= Avondale News| date= 16 September 1954| publisher= The Rochester Clarion| page= 4}} The district accommodated the growth by building a junior high school and requesting a bond issue in 1955.{{cite news| title=$850,000 Bond Issue Will Be Up to Voters This Monday in Avondale| date= 12 Dec 1955| publisher= Avon News| page= 1}}
The district constructed R. Grant Graham Elementary School in 1968.{{cite book| last= Randall| first= Natalie Kilmer| title= Pontiac Township 1827-1983| date=1983| page=55}}
In 1979, facing a budget deficit and declining enrollment, the district closed Stone Elementary, followed by Elmwood Elementary in 1981. In 1981 Avondale's annual budget was projected to be $6.9 million ($24 million in 2024 dollars).{{cite news| last= Skier| first= Bob| title= Avondale closes second elementary| date= 15 June 1981| publisher= Rochester Eccentric| page= 1}} The junior high school also closed in 1979{{cite news| title= Petition urges principal to stay| date= June 20, 1979| publisher= Royal Oak Daily Tribune| page= Rochester/Avon section p.28}} and the building was ultimately used to house the Auburn Heights Elementary, when it changed its name to Auburn Elementary, around 1987.{{citation needed|date= April 2025}} The original Auburn Heights Elementary, built in 1924,{{cite book| last= Randall| first= Natalie Kilmer| title= Pontiac Township 1827-1983| date=1983| page=55}} has been demolished.
The district was seeing growth again in the 1990s and built Deerfield Elementary in 1990 and Woodland Elementary in 1998, which replaced the Stiles Elementary building.{{cite news| last= Audi| first= Tamara| title= Historic school may get new lease on life| date= 2 July 1998| publisher= Detroit Free Press| page= 5B}}
With the construction of a new Avondale Middle School in 1994, the 1951 high school building was named Avondale Meadows Upper Elementary and housed grades 5 and 6.{{citation need|date= April 2025}} It closed in 2010 due to state budget cuts{{cite web| last= Kingsbury| first= Annette| title= Meadows Upper Elementary School to close| date= March 3, 2010| publisher= The Oakland Press| url= https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2010/03/03/meadows-upper-elementary-school-to-close/}} and became a multipurpose building for the district.
=Timeline=
{{#tag:timeline|
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DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1920 till:2025
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ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1920
Colors =
id:highschool value:rgb(0.6,0.8,1) legend:High_School
id:juniorhigh value:rgb(0.3,0.4,0.8) legend:Junior_High
id:middleschool value:rgb(0.6,1,0.6) legend:Middle_School
id:elementary value:rgb(1,0.89,0.63) legend:Elementary_School
id:other value:gray(0.7) legend:Other_Use
id:allgrades value:rgb(1,0.4,0.4) legend:All_Grades
id:grades56 value:rgb(0.9,0.7,1) legend:Grades_5–6
BarData =
bar:Auburn1435 text:"1435 W. Auburn Rd."
bar:Waukegan2900 text:"2900 Waukegan St."
bar:Waukegan2800 text:"2800 Waukegan St."
bar:Auburn1445 text:"1445 W. Auburn Rd."
bar:AuburnHeights text:"Auburn Heights School"
PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
# 1435 W. Auburn Rd.
bar:Auburn1435 from:1951 till:1970 color:highschool
bar:Auburn1435 from:1970 till:1994 color:middleschool
bar:Auburn1435 from:1994 till:2010 color:grades56
bar:Auburn1435 from:2010 till:2025 color:other
# 2900 Waukegan St.
bar:Waukegan2900 from:1955 till:1979 color:juniorhigh
bar:Waukegan2900 from:1979 till:1987 color:other
bar:Waukegan2900 from:1987 till:2025 color:elementary
# 2800 Waukegan St.
bar:Waukegan2800 from:1970 till:2025 color:highschool
# 1445 W. Auburn Rd.
bar:Auburn1445 from:1994 till:2025 color:middleschool
# Auburn Heights School
bar:AuburnHeights from:1924 till:1937 color:elementary
bar:AuburnHeights from:1937 till:1951 color:allgrades
bar:AuburnHeights from:1951 till:1987 color:elementary
bar:AuburnHeights from:1987 till:2006 color:other
}}
Schools
Former Schools
=Auburn Academy=
Auburn Academy was begun in 1837 as a tuition-based school educating students in the village of Auburn, later called Auburn Heights. It was built on the corner of Primary Street and Juniper Street.{{cite web| author= Auburn Hills Historical Society| title= Auburn Hills Timeline| url= https://cms3.revize.com/revize/auburnhillsmi/community/docs/Auburn_Hills_Timeline.pdf|access-date=January 26, 2025}} Although it is not linked to the current district, it represents education in the community during the pioneer era.
=Stiles School=
The city of Rochester Hills created a historic district for Stiles School in 2010 because of its exemplary Collegiate Gothic architecture. It was built at 3976 S Livernois Rd., Rochester Hills (then Avon Township) in 1929 by architect Frederick D. Madison, replacing a series of one-room schoolhouses (the earliest being from 1871). Its school district was Fractional School District No. 11 of Avon and Troy Townships. The kindergarten room has murals depicting nursery-rhymes and a fireplace surrounded by Flint Faience animal-themed tiles. After Woodland Elementary replaced it in 1998, it housed a series of private schools.{{cite web| author= City of Rochester Hills, Michigan Historic District Study Committee.| title= Final Historic Study Committee Report, Stiles School Historic District, Rochester Hills, Michigan, December 9, 2010| url= https://roch.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=1219399&GUID=E569D4B3-5FC7-400A-9FC4-DA808B791322}}
=Stone School=
Stone Elementary was built in 1929 at 3741 S Adams Rd in Rochester Hills, replacing an 1857 one-room schoolhouse at the southeast corner of Adams and South Boulevard in Troy (which is still standing) known locally as the Old Stone School. This was the school of Fractional School District 10, of Troy Township. The 1857 schoolhouse is a Greek Revival structure made of local fieldstone,{{cite web| last= Rivetto| first= Linda| title= Old Stone School| publisher= City of Troy, Michigan Historic District Commission Meeting Agenda, February 18 2021| date= 8 March 2004| url= https://apps.troymi.gov/BoardsAndCommittees/OnbaseItem?documentId=5350560}} hence the name. After the 1929 elementary closed in 1979, it became American House Stone, a retirement community.{{cite news| last= Rousous| first= Rick| title= Clever conversion| publisher= Detroit Free Press| date= 21 February 1985| page= 3B}}
=Elmwood School=
Built in 1926 at 2251 W Auburn Road, in Rochester Hills, Elmwood was closed by the district in June 1981 during a budget crisis.{{cite news| last= Skier| first= Bob| title= Avondale closes second elementary| date= 15 June 1981| publisher= Rochester Eccentric| page= 1}} Like Stone Elementary, Elmwood Elementary was purchased by American House after it closed in 1981. It is now a retirement community.{{cite news| last= Rousous| first= Rick| title= Clever conversion| publisher= Detroit Free Press| date= 21 February 1985| page= 3B}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071204064612/http://avondale.mi.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/sectionlist/sectionlist.php?sectiondetailid=1172 Schools]. Avondale School District. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
External links
{{Portal|Michigan|Schools}}
- {{official website|https://www.avondaleschools.org/}}
{{Auburn Hills, Michigan}}
{{Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan}}
{{Rochester Hills, Michigan}}
{{Troy, Michigan}}
Category:Education in Oakland County, Michigan
Category:Schools in Auburn Hills, Michigan
Category:Schools in Troy, Michigan
Category:School districts in Michigan
Category:1947 establishments in Michigan
Category:School districts established in 1947
{{Michigan-school-stub}}