Longfellow Elementary

Longfellow Elementary. 1511 N. 9th Street. In response to changes in curriculum and rapid growth in the North End, Longfellow School opened to students, grades 1-8, in 1906, incorporating many modern advances in school design. One innovation that received much attention was the placement of a large bank of windows on only one wall in each classroom. This design feature was meant to provide more light and reduce shadows; an improvement thought to decrease eyestrain. Longfellow also had the first slate blackboards in the West. New recognition of the importance of physical education is reflected in the wide, spacious hallways, which allowed for “drilling” during inclement weather. The school also included a four-room apartment in the basement for the janitor “in order that he may be continually at his post.” , Designed by prominent local architects, Wayland and Fennell, Longfellow School is unique in its use of the Spanish Mission Revival Style, characterized primarily by the shaped central parapet and arched windows (shown left). The style’s popularity spread from the American Southwest, where Spanish missionaries built churches using this curved parapet form. The two recessed entrance porticos are supported by Ionic columns and were original intended as separate boys’ and girls’ entrances. , Prior to the 1900s, educational philosophy centered on strict discipline focusing on the 3-Rs: reading, writing and arithmetic. Early in the 20th century, progressive ideas resulted in a shift in attitudes that expanded the cuuriculum, and in 1905, the School District established a department of domestic sciences. All girls in grades 8-12 were required to take cooking lessons. Girls in grades 6 and 7 had weekly sewing lessons. Longfellow was the first Boise school constructed with specific, dedicated domestic sciences class space designed into the building.