Horace Mann
Horace Mann School
39th & Euclid
Principal: Alva R. Hamilton
In 1890 a small school was opened in a second floor hallway in a building at 38th and Woodland Avenue. At best, it provided the children of this suburban part of the city with educational advantages. The next year, 1891, a tract of land was purchased at 39th and Euclid Avenue, the present location of the school. At the same time, a two room brick building which stood on this ground, burned and a four room frame school was built to replace the burned building.
It was not until nine years later, 1889, when this school was taken into the Kansas City School District. When the school was admitted to the District, it had an enrollment of 229 students and a faculty of four teachers. The Horace Mann district at that time, extended from 35th Street on the north to 54th Street on the south and from Paseo on the west to the Blue River on the east. It was a vast area without sidewalks or street improvements.
But the City was pushing rapidly to the south and in a few years it was well built up with comfortable homes. Although the Board of Education had added another teacher to the faculty and rented the basement of the Ivanhoe Church to use as a classroom, they fully realized that a new school building was needed. So, in 1904, the first unit of the new building was built. In that same year a kindergarten department was added and domestic science was taught for the first time. Two years later in 1906, the other unit was built so the present building was completed and the name Horace Mann School was carved above the doors.
More ground was purchased on the north of the building and was surfaced for a playground for the students.
By this time the Horace Mann School district was no longer a vast territory stretching from Paseo to the Blue River, but a very small compact area with new modern schools on all sides. By 1925, the addition of an auditorium and gymnasium had been added.