The city of El Paso was originally all within one school district, but after the brick school was built on the east side of the city in 1869, upset people on the west side managed to split the district and form a second school district. The west side had a new, wooden school until Jefferson Park School was built on the same site in 1897. The east-side school was named McKinley School shortly after President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901. Both districts eventually had two-year high schools, and in 1892 both began four-year high school education. El Paso High School District 375 was formed in 1916 from the area of the east-side and west-side city districts and some rural areas, and originally continued holding classes in the east and west school buildings, but also held some classes in some downtown El Paso office buildings, until the El Paso High School building was finished in 1921.