 History of the Cartwright School
District
After the Civil War, the
westward trend accelerated. Wagon trains were formed,
bringing pioneers west to homestead the unsettled lands. Some
of these families chose to settle in the Salt River valley
and filed homesteads west of the new little town of Phoenix,
in Arizona Territory. In the early days in the community now
known as the Cartwright School District, a few scattered families
lived with determination, energy and a pioneering spirit. Some
of the family names were Cartwright, Riggins, Mann, Brockman,
Pike, Marlar, Bone, Doyle, Greenhaw, Orme, Smoot, List, Stacey,
Miller, Tompkins, Vinson and Wilky, many of whom were related.
Before Cartwright School
opened in 1884 on the corner of Maricopa Road and Lateral 18
(now known as 59th Avenue & Thomas) the nearest schools
were three miles away. R. J. Cartwright and Jim Marlar
solicited funds and a one-room frame school was built to house
fourteen students and one teacher. By 1895, the student
count had reached sixty-two, so a large tent was erected and
another teacher as hired. In 1897, the old frame building was
moved and a one-room brick school with a basement was built. Two
rooms were added in 1904.
The Cartwright School District was formed in 1921. In
1924, a new Cartwright School consisting of six classrooms,
office, auditorium and inside classrooms replaced the brick
building. This building remains a part of Cartwright
School today.Cartwright School remained the only school for
72 years when tremendous growth in the community made it necessary
to build additional schools. In 1924 a bond issue was held
and the new, modern school was built. More land was acquired
throughout the years and additional classrooms and cafeteria
were added.It wasn’t until 1956 that our second school
was built – Glenn L. Downs School.
The following list shows the growth of the Cartwright School
District up to the present time.
1958 - John F. Long School
1959 – Powell School
1960 – Justine Spitalny School
1961 – Holiday Park and Sunset Schools
1962 – Starlight Park School
1963 – Charles W. Harris School
1968 – Desert Sands and Frank Borman Junior High
Schools (now Desert Sands and Frank Borman Middle Schools)
1971 – Heatherbrae School
1973 – Estrella Junior High School (now Estrella
Middle School), Palm Lane and CASP (later named Palm Lane
North) Palm Lane North closed during the 2004-05
school year.
1975 – Peralta School
1979-80 – Byron A. Barry and Tomahawk Schools
1992 – Powell School was re-opened as the Cartwright
Preschool & Gifted Center (later named Cartwright Early
Childhood Center)
1997 – Flor del Sol
1998 – G. Frank Davidson School
2000 – Marc T. Atkinson Middle School
2001 – Bret R. Tarver School
2003 – Manuel Peña School |
The District’s first
superintendent was Glenn L. Downs, who served as superintendent/teacher
from 1928 until his retirement in 1964. Dr. Byron A. Barry
succeeded Mr. Downs as Superintendent in 1964 and served in that
position until 1977. Mr. Robert Smith served as Interim
Superintendent for part of 1977. Dr. William R. Dabb became
Superintendent in January of 1978 and served in that position
until 1997. Dr. Frank Davidson served as Interim Superintendent
for part of 1997 until Bill Sullivan was hired. He served
as Superintendent until June of 2000. The next Superintendent
was Dr. John Woollums who retired in June of 2004. In July
of 2004, Michael V. Martinez became Cartwright District superintendent
and continues to serve in the capacity today. |
