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<< Previous   of   Next >> Kevin Nortz / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Fifteen year-old Kaya Reilly (left) and Anne Burdette (right), 14, grill freshman classmate Peder Laberge, 15, during their lunch period Thursday. Kevin Nortz / The Herald  (click to enlarge) "It was kind of like a stress relieved," said Mikel Suarez, 15, of spending her first year of high school among only a freshman class. After 48 years, the Snohomish Freshman Campus will close its doors after this year.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Snohomish Freshman Campus closing at end of school year Snohomish freshmen will be last class for school By Eric Stevick Herald Writer SNOHOMISH -- Bell bottoms and platform shoes. Dorothy Hamill haircuts. The angst of teenagers' first pimples. For nearly a half century, thousands of students passed through the school grounds off Glen Avenue in Snohomish, reflecting the uncomfortable style of freshmen -- and, at times, seventh- and eighth-graders -- everywhere. And they learned something along the way, be it algebra, predicates or Washington state history. Now, the Snohomish Freshman Campus, earlier Snohomish Junior High School, will close its doors at year's end. Parts of the building could be used for home-school students next fall or leased to the city of Snohomish. The campus also may be brought out of retirement for students during school construction projects elsewhere in the district. Land near the building also could be used for a pool or to build another school some day. "I don't think it's seen its end as a school," said acting Superintendent Betty Robertson. "It's no youngster, but it's pretty functional for the moment." The district's ninth-graders who now attend the freshman campus will head to the new Glacier Peak High School or Snohomish High School next fall. The junior high school opened in 1961. Former students have plenty of memories from their time behind the brick walls. "I remember there being so many people and being overwhelmed," said David Johnston, who went on to become an attorney and Snohomish School Board member. Johnston recalls running for student body president. "I had giant signs," he said. "I think that's why I won." In hindsight, not all the posters had the snappiest slogans, he said laughing. One read: "Don't be too open minded or your brains will fall out." Former students and faculty can visit their old stomping grounds at an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Joan Robinett-Wilson, an architect who attended the junior high in the mid-1970s, remembers when the athletic field would frequently flood and become a mud bowl during PE, but it was the classroom where she has her fondest memories. "I remember the teachers," she said. "I think I can probably remember every teacher I had." Grace Nelson and Jack Bonner are co-presidents of the freshman campus this year. She will go to Snohomish High School while he will attend Glacier Peak in the fall. Both liked the setup of the freshman campus where students from across the district would be under the same roof for the first time without upperclassmen. "We got to adjust to high school without being thrust into the high school scene," Nelson said. "It's kind of sad," Bonner added. "We will be split up. Half our friends will be at the other school. I met a lot of new friends from the other (middle) school. It was just a good experience being one class." Kristy Kelly has spent a good part of her life on the campus, first as a student in the 1960s and now as a school nurse. She was part of two classrooms of sixth-graders to attend the junior high because of cramped quarters at Emerson Elementary School. Her childhood classmates went on to do good things, such as becoming a mystery novel writer, a judge and a school district superintendent. "I have always loved the library," she said. "I have good memories of that school." Nancy Walker taught on the grounds for 11 years when it was a junior high and nine years as the freshman campus. Now an occasional substitute at the school, she well remembers more than 2,000 students, family members and local residents attending one of the many medieval festivals at the school. She was on the faculty through two campus remodels, a change in the trim from blue to red and a stint when the roof leaked gallons of water. "I had a waterfall outside my door," she said. Walker mainly taught western civilization and U.S. History, but was also tapped to teach spelling and penmanship. She also recalls the success of coach Pete Black's eighth-grade football team, which went undefeated 11 years in the 1970s and '80s and had eight seasons of holding its opponents scoreless. School board member Jay Hagen is a Snohomish Junior High alum who believes the district will be much better off with two large high schools. That doesn't mean he won't cherish some memories. "When you go through that place, it's not about the building," he said. "It's about the teachers and the friends you made." Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.

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