Clear Lake Elementary School

In 1892 a group of residents in the Clear Lake area decided to establish a new one room elementary school named Clear Lake School. They elected a school board and the board determined the site for the school. Two acres were offered by John and Edna Bair who owned 160 acres.

The oldest two sections of Clear Lake School as they stand today (1960). The belfry was part of the 1898 addition on the North Side of the 1892 original section., WHC Collections 2007.001.1769

The original school was built for just $434. $165 was for lumber, doors and windows were $45, shingles cost $25, and molding $10. Within six months the school purchased an adjacent acre for $40 and in five more years the school bought another acre for $50. Clear Lake School got its name from a nearby body of water.

The first paid teacher at Clear Lake was Emma Massey. She earned a salary of just $30 per month. Teachers not only taught in those days but also did janitorial work. In 1913 two students were hired to be janitors. Calvin Mason and his brother Lloyd Mason, who were only twelve and thirteen years of age, were paid $40 each to assume the janitor position for the year. As noted in Clear Lake School, Warming Hearts for 100 Years, “Students took a great deal of responsibility for their school and considered it a privilege to wash windows, clean the outhouse, keep the playground clear, and organize baseball games with other schools. They even built their own baseball field, working before and after school and during recesses. Vandalism was non-existent because of the pride students took in the school and the responsibility they shared.”

Clear Lake doubled its classrooms in the 1950’s. Enrollment was at an all time high of 106 students in grades one through eight.

The original school building was located at 7990 Wheatland Road East, Keizer, Oregon. The this building was used to house Clear Lake Elementary School for 100 years before School District 24CJ built a new Clear Lake Elementary School at 7425 Meadowglen Street North. In 1992 the building on Wheatland Rd was renamed Centennial School. Centennial School is a transition program for disabled students and also a head start program. The building is still owned by the school district.

The new Clear Lake School, built in 1994, now houses kindergarten through fifth grades with a total of 542 students. The school sits on 9.83 acres and cost $4,842,481 to complete. The architect was Carlson Veit. This is quite a contrast to the $434 spent on the original building. The school’s colors are royal blue and white and they are nicknamed the Cougars.

Compiled and written by Yvonne Litke

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Bibliography:

Patterson, Christina. Clear Lake School, Warming Hearts for 100 Years.

This article originally appeared on the original Salem Online History site and has not been updated since 2006.