Before We Break Ground On A New Building…. A Look Back

This Tuesday at 12:30 we will  break ground on a major renovation of Veneta Elementary School. Over the next six months, we will add a new cafeteria, six new classrooms, a new bus loop, and extensively remodel the offices and library. Before we move forward with the new, we thought it would be fun to look back. Here is a picture of what Veneta Elementary School looked like in 1970.

The original building was built in 1938 and had just four classrooms and an office. in 1940, enrollment for K-8 was 63 students. Over the years classrooms were added and a gym was built as part of a World War II memorial drive. In 1972 a fire struck and burned down all but three classrooms and the gym. A second fire struck in 1974 that burned down the remaining three original classrooms and the gym. In 1989 an arson fire burned down eight classes in the east wing (now the primary wing) and that part of the school was rebuilt.

Enrollment at VES has also grown over the years, due to both population growth and the Veneta School District merging with other school districts. Veneta was a school district by itself when it was originally built. On February 13, 1940, District #164, Job, consolidated with Veneta, and on May 8, 1942, District #72, Jeans, became a part of District #28. The current Fern Ridge School District 28J was organized on May 6, 1960, when Veneta #28 consolidated with District #118, Lyons, District #88, Noti, and District#139, Elmira.

All elementary schools in the District were grades 1-8 until the fall of 1964 when students moved to the new high school, and grades 7-9 attended junior high school in the old high school (current site of middle school).

So now that you know a little bit more about our past, we invite you to come and celebrate our future on Tuesday.