The history of Alameda schools goes back more than 150 years. Former Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) board president Mike McMahon compiled a history of Alameda’s schools that forms the basis of this article. The photos come courtesy of Alameda Museum curator George Gunn who recently acquired them from an Alameda family. At left they are, clockwise from top left, Bay Farm, Haight, Mastick, Wilson, Porter and Longfellow schools. At lower right, not pictured on the cover, is Everett School.

Alameda Schools History Chronology 

1855 Schermerhorn School was located on the west side of Court Street, between Van Buren and Jackson streets.

• 1864 Alameda School replaced Schermerhorn School.
• 1892 Wilson School replaced Alameda School with an eight-classroom school.
• 1911 Name was changed from Wilson School to Lincoln.
• 1917 The Lincoln School was rebuilt.

1860 Encinal School was located on Lincoln Avenue between Stanton and Paru streets.

• 1865 A two-room building was erected on the northwest corner of Bay Street and Santa Clara. This structure replaced Encinal School on Lincoln.
• 1891 A new eight-room building was opened.
• 1901 Name was changed from Encinal to Mastick School.
• 1939 A new structure replaced the 1891 structure.
• 1979 K-4 elementary was closed.
• 1980 School was closed.
• 2000 In a land swap deal with AUSD, the city assumed ownership for the ongoing operation of Mastick Senior Center.

1874 Boehmer’s Hall, a rented room on Park Street, was used a temporary quarters for high school classes.

• 1875 Park Street School was closed in 1879 with the opening of Porter School.
• 1875 Haight School — located at Santa Clara and Chestnut as a combination elementary and high school
• 1900 High school classes moved from Haight School to Porter School.
• 1911 A new fire-resistant school was built to replace the 1875 structure.
• 1973 School was demolished.
• 1975 Haight School was rebuilt and opened in 1976.
• 2006 Haight School was closed for one year to make seismic upgrades.

1875 West End School - located at Fifth and Pacific

• 1895 Name changed to Longfellow School. A ten classroom building replaced the 1875 structure.
• 1942 A new structure replaced the 1895 structure.
• 1951 Ten new classrooms were added. A multi-purpose room was added
• 2006 School was closed.
• 2009 Nea Charter School moved onto the site.
• 2011 Woodstock Child Development Center was relocated to the site.
• 2014 Island High School was relocated to the site.

1879 Porter School - located on Alameda Avenue near Oak Street

• 1916 A new structure replaced the 1879 structure.
• 1973 Fire destroyed the school.1882 Bay Farm Island School - a rented building on Bay Farm Island

1890 The school was closed and students were bussed to schools on the East End.

• 1961 Three buses were transporting 194 students to Alameda from Bay Farm.

1891 Everett School - located at the corner of Eagle Avenue and Everett Street

• 1971 Old school was demolished and Island High was opened with four portables.
• 2006 Island High was relocated to the George Miller Elementary School site.
• 2014 The Board of Education approved a land swap that gave this property to the Alameda Housing Authority.

1902 Alameda High School - located at 2200 Central Avenue near Walnut Street

• 1926 A new building replaced the 1902 structure.
• 1977 The historical building on Central was closed to students. The new building on the corner of Encinal and Walnut opened.
• 1991 The east wing of Central building was renovated to meet Field Act standards and students began using classrooms.
• 2012 AUSD closed the Adult School and administration offices in the east wing and relocates to administrative offices to leased space at 2060 Challenger Drive. The Adult School relocated to Woodstock School site.

1909 Washington School - located at Eight and Santa Clara Avenue

• 1957 A new building replaced the 1909 structure.
• 2012 Washington Elementary was renamed Maya Lin School. It became an arts magnet school.

1926 Versailles School - bounded by Versailles, Lincoln, Pearl, and Buena Vista

• 1942 A new building replaced 1926 structures and was renamed Edison School.

1927 Franklin School - located at Franklin Park, housed in a reconstructed cottage

• 1930 Mr. Sadler’s home was purchased and remodeled for a school and renamed Sadler School.
• 1951 A new structure replaced the 1930 structure and renamed to Franklin School.
• 1984 School was closed
• 1994 School was reopened.

1944 Webster School - located in the Webster Housing Project

• 1958 School closed.

1944 John Muir School was located in the Estuary Housing Project.

• 1960s School closed.

1946 Encinal School was located in the Encinal Housing Project.

• 1953 renamed Burbank School.
• 1955 School closed.

1951 Woodstock School is located at 1900 Third St., near Atlantic Avenue.

• 2006 School was closed.
• 2006 Site was temporarily used as the location of Haight School while that school was under renovation.
• 2007 New site of Bay Area School of Enterprise (BASE)
• 2011 Island High School was relocated from the George Miller school site.
• 2012 Alameda Adult School was relocated to this site from Alameda High.
• 2014 Nea charter school, both Upper Village (6-12) and Lower Village (K-5) were relocated to the site.
• 2014 ACLC charter school (6-12) was relocated to the site.

1951 Frank Otis School, located on Fillmore Street, opened.

1952 Encinal High School opened, located at 210 Central Ave.

1955 William Paden School is located at 444 Central Ave.

• 1984 Elementary school was closed.
• 1992 Reopened as an elementary school; this eventually changed to K-8.
• 2006 Grades 6-8 closed.

1961 Donald Lum School opened on Otis Drive at Sandcreek Avenue.

1965 Will C. Wood Middle School opened at 420 Grand St.

• 2013 Charter school ACLC was relocated to a portion of the Wood School campus.

1977 Lincoln Middle School opened on Fernside Boulevard near Encinal Avenue.

1977 George Miller Elementary School opened at 250 Singleton Ave.

• 2006 School was closed.
• 2008 Island High School moved onto the campus.
• 2011 Site was abandoned by school district as infrastructure upgrades were cost-prohibitive.

1979 Amelia Earhart Elementary School opened at 400 Packet Landing.

1992 Bay Farm Elementary School opened at 200 Aughinbaugh Way.

2006 Ruby Bridges Elementary School opened at 351 Jack London Ave.