Pitts Middle School

**Pitts Middle School** is a 6-8 middle school located in the Oakhurst-Westover area of Linelin City. The middle school has been opened since 1922, and recieved a major renovation in 2012 after the building's overcrowding and maintenance situation had been worsening for years. The school holds 614 middle school students as of the 2018-19 school year, compared to its recommended capacity of 600. The

Pitts is one of the oldest schools in Linelin City. It was originally founded as a private schoolhouse ran by Solomon J Pitts, a early Westover resident. The school later expanded into its current building, which received numerous additions over the years in order to account for explosive population growth in the Westover area following World War 2.

Today, Pitts Middle School is the third most populated middle school in Linelin City, after Linelin Heights MS and McMurrer MS.

## Description

Pitts Middle School sits on two city blocks, with the adjacent field and park covering a total of four. The school is bounded on the east and west by W 31st and 35th Avenues, with W Oakhurst Ave and Scott Street to the north and south.

The school building sits on a roughly square lot, and is u-shaped. The building was originally built in the colonial revival style, a style which has been maintained even after extensive remodeling. The main entrance has two double doors which are flanked by two large white columns, above which "PITTS SCHOOL" is engraved. The entirety of the front facade has been preserved since its 1922 construction. The main entrance is in a courtyard bounded by the two main wings of the school, which include their own hallways and classrooms on each side.

The back facade of the school includes a few windows plus a back entrance which leads into a narrow hallway meant as access to the school's stage. The back wall of the school was considerably extended in 2012, expanding the auditorium and classroom and gym space. The gym (2), which was originally two converted classrooms, is now finished and sits just south of the auditorium, divided only by the previously mentioned access corridor.

Upon entering the building, the two double doors lead into two separate hallways that are divided by a (post-2012) mostly class administration office and reception desk. The two hallways meet in the middle of the building where the entrance to the theater is (1). The hallways then split left and right leading to each wing of the school. The south wing has a small entrance/exit on its end, while the north wing is connected by a small passageway to the 2012 arts building (3), a one story structure with three updated classrooms that replaced two outdated portables that previously sat on the site. A staircase is also located near the access hallway which leads to two basement classrooms, which were formerly storage areas inaccessible to students.

Outside of the main building is the 2012 annex (4), a small building with a faithful colonial revival aesthetic which has two classrooms. The school grounds include many paved pathways which connect the three buildings of the school. Behind the school is a small garden. Across 33rd Avenue is the field, a public field which is utilized by the school. On this block is mostly park space, including a small bathroom structure. Also on the site is a privately owned plot of land which includes the Westover Christian Youth Academy (WCYA), which occupies the original 1897 Pitts School - although the historical integrity of the 1897 building has been lost as it has been remodeled many times, as recently as 2015. There is also a small parking lot which is allowed use by both WCYA and Pitts employees.

## History

### Background

Born in 1855 in Missouri, Solomon J Pitts was a lawyer who came to Linelin in the 1880s. He traveled with his wife, Rosette, and his three children, Bridget, Eduard, and Elias. His youngest child, Mary, was born soon after his arrival to Linelin. When he arrived in Linelin he chose to settle in West Linelin/Westover, which was the outskirts of the city at the time. He bought a parcel of land which includes all four city blocks which the current school and park sit on, plus extra land which he sold over time. He built his home on the site of the school, and used the rest to cultivate food for his family and to sell to the surrounding community. In the 1880s he began homeschooling his children in a converted shed on the edge of his property.

It is thought that over time, neighbors offered to pay Pitts to teach their children, leading to him becoming a full-time teacher along with tending to his crops. In 1897 he built the now standing three-room schoolhouse which he called the Pitts School. It taught from grades one to eight, and graduated 27 pupils in its 1900 class. Pitts had written in his will that, besides the land immediately surrounding the schoolhouse, all his property was to be sold to the City of Linelin upon his death. When he died in 1914, Linelin gained possession of this land while Pitts' son Eduard received the original schoolhouse which he turned into his personal residence.

Two years later the homestead and crops were cleared off the land at the approval of Pitts' family, and turned into a rudimentary park with dirt walking paths. In 1918 the question of building a K-8 school on the site to accommodate the growing student population in the area, which was now a central part of the Linelin area, was raised among the Linelin School District No. 1 (now LCPS) board.

Groundbreaking for a new school began in 1919, and the school was completed by September of 1922. The school was designed by Wilhelm Ernst of Ernst-Heigel Co., who chose the colonial revival style to "exemplify the eloquence of education." Although a state of the art building at the time, the Pitts School had its problems. The school had no gymnasium, and the basement was left unfinished. The field across the street was not built yet, and it would be over three years of students using a empty field outside the school until a actual field was put in place by the city. In 1929, the school graduated 51 students, its biggest class yet.

### Post-War Years

Beginning in the 1940s, the Westover area began to see major population growth. The amount of students began increasing greatly, and questioned were raised how to accommodate this growth. In 1949 all but one k-8 schools in Linelin were changed to either a elementary or middle school. A new elementary school was built hastily in the area while Pitts School became Pitts Middle School. Even after this switch, Pitts was still crowded and at the current rate would not be able to support any new students in a couple years.

In 1955 Northwest Middle School was opened, later named McMurrer MS. This helped offset the problem, but the realization that Pitts would need extensive renovations in the near future began to set in. Between 1950 and 1957 the school saw some updates. The original 1922 chiseled ceilings were replaced by acoustic ceilings, and the floors were replaced with linoleum. Most of the windows were updated to traditional sash windows and some of the architectural detailing was removed and replaced with a steel facade.

In 1960, two portables were constructed to the south of the building which contained two classrooms each. Around this same time plans to build a updated gymnasium in the exterior of the building (the original gymnasium had been built out of two classrooms in the early 40s) and a foundation was laid, yet funding ran out the area was turned into a concrete patio with planters.

In 1986 one of the two 1960 portables was removed, and two new portables were built at the site of the old arts building. The 1960 portable became office space.

## Principals

Below is a completed list of school principals.

Maurice A. Robbins (1902-1976), who served as Pitts Principal for 24 years, is the longest serving school principal in the history of Linelin City Schools.