History Page

1879- to Present

Osborn #1 On Central, 1890s

Osborn #1 Remodeled, 1939

Osborn #1, When the first Osborn School opened at the corner of 7th Street and Osborn Rd, the district served children in the Tonto Basin. G. W. VanDerzen, the first teacher, was granted a teaching certificate in 1879. By 1887 a little frame building with a porch around it was built at Central Ave and Osborn. John Preston Osborn had donated the land on which the one room wooden structure stood. Ten years later, the little brick school house opened at Central Avenue. With sixty children soon enrolled, the district built an additional four-room, two story brick school facing Central. This building was Osborn School #1, serving the district well until its sale in June of 1963 to the Financial Corporation of Arizona for $1,342,850.50. The Building and its surrounding facilities had grown to thirty classrooms and six-and-a-half acres.

Osborn's First Bus

Osborn #1, 1963

Longview School

May Queen Surrounded by Attendants

Longview School, at 12th Street and Indian School Rd, was added in 1924, beginning with a single first-grade room. The next year, rooms for three more grades and a library were added. One of the first teachers, Lee Johnson, drove a Model T Ford equipped with benches in the back to pick up children living too far away to walk. By 1929, grades 5 to 8 had been added; and the school had grown to become the district’s largest school. Since the demolition of the Old Osborn School, Longview is also honored as the oldest school in the district. Longview School was remodeled in 1992 and became a K-6 school that year. There are currently more than 550 students enrolled. At Longview, students are STARs, demonstrating Safety, Teamwork, Achievement, and Respect. Longview’s promise is that there is a professional educator in every classroom who cares that every student, every day, learns and grows and feels respected as an individual.

Longview's First Classroom, 1924

Longview's Marching Band, 1965

Grandview School

Grandview Walkway

C Team, Grandview

Grandview School, originally at 11th Avenue and Camelback, opened in 1930, also starting as a one-room school with four grades and two teachers on land purchased from Joel Rice. The school grew throughout the years, becoming an upper grades school in 1965. An interesting footnote to Grandview’s growth was the purchase of a little over two acres along Camelback in 1955 for $20,000. Today’s prices for this land would be astronomical. Grandview was remodeled in the 1990s when it was renamed Osborn Middle School. The original facade was saved when the building was razed, and can now be seen on an office building at 24th Street and Missouri Avenue.

Pom Line & Rick Benait, 1965	Grandview 7th grade, 1950
Grandview Faculty, 1967	Grandview May Pole late 1950's

Encanto School

Encanto, 1950

International Day Program, Encanto

Encanto School, at Osborn and 15th Avenue, was added in 1949, opening with ten classrooms and 300 students. This larger building, the first Osborn school to open with more than four classrooms, reflected the population pressure in the area. By the 1950’s growth was so strong that Encanto’s overflow was housed in Temple Beth Israel for three years. In 1952, Encanto’s unique amphitheater was built. The old Encanto was demolished and a brand new Encanto, retaining the flavor of the original school with tile roofs and wrought iron, was built on the former playground. Today there are approximately 700 students attending Kindergarten through Third grade. Encanto provides an environment in which children can feel safe, learn and grow academically, socially, and emotionally. Encanto is a community of learners who value, respect and celebrate the differences and the diversity of those around them. The school focus is on Early Childhood Education. Teachers help children strive to meet their highest potential in class and after school through unique after school programs such as Ballet. Confident, hard working Third Graders move on to Encanto’s sister school, Clarendon, where they attend grades Four through Six. Encanto has a strong dual language program in which students fluent in English are taught in both the English and Spanish languages.

Clarendon School

Ground Breaking Clarendon, 1952

Clarendon Orchestra members

Clarendon School, at 12th Avenue and Clarendon, was ready to help the over-flowing Encanto School by February of 1954 on land purchased from the Sciot family. Although originally built for 450 children, 650 arrived on opening day. The school is situated on eighteen acres of land which was purchased two years earlier. Currently, there are over 500 students attending grades Four through Six. Clarendon is proud of its diverse community combining students from many ethnic backgrounds. Clarendon School sees themselves as a community of learners where diversity and difference are valued and respected. Clarendon School's curriculum encourages life-long learning through the development of thinking and problem-solving skills, literacy and numeracy skills, hands-on projects, science, social studies, technology and the arts. Like their sister school Encanto, Clarendon also has a strong dual language program. Additionally, there is a strong focus on the performing arts highlighted by Ballet and an award-winning band.

Clarendon 5th grade Bandits

Science Fair & Mr. Hammond

Solano School

Solano Thanksgiving Feast, 1988

Pull-ups, Solano

Solano School opened in 1957 and was remodeled in 1990. The school is located at 15th Ave and Missouri, the most northern of the Osborn District schools. Built to relieve overcrowding at Grandview, Solano has had many additions over the years, including a playground which was originally nothing but a field (or sea of mud during rainy weather) left barren when former landowner Mr. Chris Harri (Christown) stopped running his vegetable garden. Solano today is a very desirable school for in-district and out-of-district parents alike with 17% of the approximately 850 Preschool through Sixth grade students attending through Open Enrollment. "The Mission of Solano School is to provide an opportunity for all students to become self-reliant, knowledgeable individuals so that they can advance academically, socially, and emotionally to their highest potential."

Sprouts at Program

Fitness Testing by Mrs. Fry

Osborn Middle School

OMS Construction Tour, Mr. Migliorino, 1989

Osborn Middle School, formerly Grandview School, is a beautiful facility that houses approximately 700 7th and 8th graders. With a strong academic focus on mathematics, science, language arts, social studies and music, Osborn Middle School boasts many unique programs for students, such as the 8th grade Government class in which students visit the state legislature and can earn the opportunity to visit our nation’s capital to tour and address our congressman.

Montecito Community School

Montecito, 2005

Montecito Courtyard, 2005

Montecito Community School, at 7th Street and Montecito, is the District’s most recent school. Built in 1998, Montecito Community School provides its students with a strong academically focused curriculum reflected in Montecito’s mission: “Our fundamental purpose is learning and we share a collective responsibility to ensure that ALL students learn what we intend.” There are nearly 600 students enrolled in grades Preschool through sixth at Montecito, where they are involved in curriculum aligned and assessed in accordance with the Arizona State Standards. Students at Montecito Community School are offered a wide variety of special area classes to enhance their education. Students in first through sixth grade participate in special area classes; Art, Music, Library, Physical Education, and Technology. Additionally, many special programs are in place at Montecito Community School to meet the various needs of the student population, their families, and the surrounding community. Some partners participating in these programs include: Osborn Health Partnership, SCOPES Mental Health, First Credit and Price Kong.

Thanks to the Murphy Art grant from the Osborn Educational Foundation, the Montecito courtyard has never looked better!