Thomas E. Peiser photographed a 1905 historical marker commemorating the site of Seattle's first school. According to the marker: On this spot the first school in Seattle was taught by Mrs
Catherine P. Blaine in January 1854. This tablet was erected by the
Washington University State Historical Society November 13, 1905. Eagle Brass Fdy (
foundry) Seattle. Like most city school systems, the district has had to face
controversy dealing with problems concerning racial tension, student population assignments, and administrative scandal; such incidents include a
student boycott in 1966 and using "racial tie-breakers" which led to a
2007 Supreme Court case.
Early schools When the
University of Washington was founded as the Territorial University in 1861, its initial class offerings were not at a level that would now be considered those of a college or university. Its first class offering was a primary school (elementary school) taught by
Asa Mercer, and for some years it was jointly supervised by the newly formed Seattle School Board its own Board of Regents. It functioned as Seattle's first public school. In 1867, the public school moved to what was then the County Building on Third Avenue between James and Jefferson, the site of today's
Prefontaine Fountain. A year later, the school moved to
Yesler's Pavilion (later Yesler's Hall) at present-day First and Cherry. A year later the school moved again to a temporary building (called Bacon's Hall after its first teacher, Carrie Bacon) located at the site of the present King County Court House. In 1870 the first "permanent" school building, the Central School, opened on Third Avenue between Madison and Spring Streets. It originally had two classrooms; a third was built in its attic in 1881. Meanwhile, in 1873 the
two-room North School opened at Third and Pine, and in 1875 the school district had purchased at 6th and Madison, where the Sixth Street School, also known as Eastern School, opened promptly in a temporary building and grew into successively larger and better-built buildings in 1877 and 1883. The latter, an "elegant wooden building" with an imposing "French mansard roof, clock tower, and tall central belfry" superseded the old Central School as well as the North School. From 1884, it was known as the Central School. Classes extended through 12th grade, and the first class graduated from 12th grade in 1886. However the school burned in 1888. The district had, in this period, started a number of other schools, including the even more imposing Denny School on Battery Street between 5th and 6th Avenues in
Belltown, opened 1884. Described as "an architectural jewel... the finest schoolhouse on the West Coast," it was demolished in 1928 as part of the
Denny Regrade project. When the Central School burned in 1888, its high school and first grade classes were parcelled out to the Denny School, In the early 20th century, Seattle Public Schools were "exemplary" under the leadership (1901–1922) of superintendent
Frank B. Cooper and a series of "civic-minded
progressives" who served on the Seattle school board. The article also said that several school officials had known of the inappropriate touching and did nothing to stop it, drawing outrage from concerned parents. Hill is serving his sentence as of December 2, 2005 and is facing anywhere from five years to life. In June 2006, Andrew J. Coulson of the
Cato Institute wrote a column in the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer taking the district to task for a page on "equity and race relations" on its website that indicated, in his words, that "only whites can be racist in America" and which, among other things, stated that "Emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology" and that this and preferring a "future time orientation" were forms of "cultural racism." The page was removed from the site the same day. In June 2007, the
United States Supreme Court decided the case of
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, where they rejected Seattle Public Schools longstanding use of "racial tie-breakers" in assigning students to schools. The decision prohibited assigning students to public schools solely for the purpose of achieving
racial integration and declined to recognize racial balancing as a compelling state interest. In a fragmented opinion delivered by
Chief Justice John Roberts, five justices held that the School Boards did not present any "compelling state interest" that would justify the assignment of school seats on the basis of race. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that "the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."
Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy filed a concurrence that presented a more narrow interpretation, stating that schools may use "race conscious" means to achieve diversity in schools but that the schools at issue in this case did not use a sufficient narrow tailoring of their plans to sustain their goals. Four justices
dissented from the Court's conclusions. In January 2013, the entire teaching body of Garfield High School refused to administer the standardized Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, which is administered system-wide, three times per year. The teachers called the tests useless and a waste of instructional time. The
American Federation of Teachers has endorsed the school's boycott of the tests. Garfield's boycott of the test quickly expanded to other Seattle schools and drew national attention. In May 2013 Superintendent Jose Banda announced that the Seattle School District will no longer require MAP tests at city high schools. In September 2024 SPS announced two possible school closure lists it is considering to help address the $100 million budget deficit. One scenario would close 21 schools, keep 52 schools open, and save an estimated $31.5 million annually. The other scenario would close 17 schools, keep 56 schools open, and save an estimated $26 million annually. 16 schools appear on both closure lists, with K-8 and option schools heavily impacted.
Historic architecture Several former Seattle Public Schools buildings are on the
National Register of Historic Places (NRHP): Image:Broadway Performance Hall - SCCC 01.jpg|
Broadway High School, incorporated into
Seattle Central Community College. Image:Frank B. Cooper School 04.jpg|Old
Frank B. Cooper Elementary School, now Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. Image:Seattle - Wallingford Center 04.jpg|
Interlake Public School, now Wallingford Center. Image:Seattle - Queen Anne High lion 02.jpg|
Queen Anne High School. Image:Seattle - West Queen Anne Public School 05.jpg|Queen Anne Public School, later
West Queen Anne School Image:Seattle - old Summit School 05.jpg|Old
Summit School. ==Notable schools==