Over the past 100 years, Manitou Park Elementary School has evolved through two names, multiple remodels and additions, and at least three new structures.
This week, the school – Tacoma’s largest elementary campus – hosted an open house in honor of its centennial.
The event drew current families, as well as school alumni and three retired principals: Erling Mellum (1968-70), Mel Gidley (1974-82) and Mick Crosby (1987-94).
They recalled a bygone era in which principals did it all, without help from assistant principals and full-time office staff.
Manitou Park got its start when members of the Manitou Improvement Club petitioned the school board for a school in southwest Tacoma. In September 1911, teacher Sara Cochrane launched the school with three grades in a one-room school named after the tree-lined park nearby.
By 1912, the school had dropped “Park” from its name.
In 1918, voters approved a bond that helped pay for a new, four-room Manitou. There were additions and remodels in 1924, 1957 and 1967.
In 1994, the current 80,000-square-foot school on South 66th Street opened. The school board voted to adopt the school’s original name, Manitou Park.
With nearly 600 students, it’s the largest elementary school in the city. And with an estimated 85 percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunches, it’s also a high-poverty school.
But Manitou has developed a reputation in recent years for meeting the challenges that impoverished students face. The school in 2008 adopted the Compassionate Schools project, which helps educators understand kids who are exposed to stress and trauma. The program has since been adopted by 14 other Tacoma schools.
Last year, Manitou Park received an award from a statewide association for its efforts to educate the “whole child.”
Principal Mary Wilson remembers her first year at Manitou Park, in 2006.
“There was an atmosphere of disrespect,” she said. “It seemed chaotic.”
She said the Compassionate Schools model helped her staff better understand students – and themselves. They learned that educating students who struggle can also be stressful for them.
But Wilson said running Manitou Park is “the hardest job I have ever loved.
“The kids are great, parents feel welcome and teacher attitudes have changed.”
Erik Sikes, mom of two Manitou Park students, agreed there’s a lot for families to like at the school.
“I’m pleased with the commitment of staff to the community, and to the well-being of each child,” she said. She said that at first, she worried about the school’s size. But she said her kids have never been lost in the shuffle. “It’s a really safe place, with a lot of parent involvement opportunities,” she said.
Her third-grader, Jane, put it this way: “I love my teacher.”
And minutes later, she dashed across the room to give her teacher, Ellie Siegmund, a hug.
Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635
debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com
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