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FIRST HILLCREST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
The boundary of the
Ruston School District #1 was enlarged and redrawn in 1922. The School
Board the next year called the tremendous $175,000 bond election which
included the construction of a school in the north side of Ruston.
The building was referred to as the Northside School.
The architect was J. W. Smith and site selected was the original home site
of R.E. Russ. This site was located at the corner of North Monroe Street
and West Maryland Avenue. Coushatta Street bounded the site on the east.
The site was a high hill which was the highest point in Ruston. This
location was the basis for the school being named
Hillcrest Elementary. The contract for building the
school was $55,325.00.
According to Mr. H.E. Townsend, the first
principal of Hillcrest was Miss May Huey. The school enrollment grew
through the years as much by consolidating schools just outside Ruston as by
the growth of Ruston. Miss Mattie Kendall was principal of the school in
the mid 1930’s. These two principals were not only principals, but they
taught a full teaching load.
The following is a list of people who have
served as principal:
1925 Miss May Huey
1933 Miss Mattie Kendall
1940-41 Miss Hattie Winfree
1941-43 Mr. James W. Ware
1943-55 W. H. Rockhold
1955-66 Mrs. Lizzie Riser
1966-75 Mr. Murphy J. Barr
1975-79 Mr. Owen Jean Hall
1979-80 Mrs. Bobbie Sue Lann
1980-84 Dr. Owen Jean Hall
1984-86 Dr. Glenn Wilkins
1986-87 Dr. Owen Jean Hall
1987-97 Mrs. Ann Gilbert
1997-Present Patrice Hay/Patrice Hilton
On at least two occasions, strong moves
were made by the school patrons to rename the school Russ Memorial
Elementary School. Neither move was strong enough to actually change the
name. A major alteration was made to the building in 1949 by Lincoln
Builders for $34,419.
The basic instructional program consisted
of reading, language, spelling, and writing and math, science, social
studies, and health and physical education. A large number of students were
brought to school by buses. The 4-H Club was an active club but was
sponsored by the Agricultural Extension Office. Health services began to be
available. Later, both hearing and vision checks were administered to
students in designated grades. A special education class was added to
Hillcrest to help students with special needs.
THE NEW HILLCREST SCHOOL
The rapid growth of
Ruston in the 1950’s and early 1960’s resulted in overcrowding at the aging
Hillcrest School. Many subdivisions sprang up on the north side of town.
The move to modernize schools was led by Superintendent of Schools, Morelle
Emmons. The original Hillcrest building was 40 years old.
The plans were made to build a new
elementary school on the north side of town. The school board bought the W.
W. Johnson property, 900’ X 726’ tract on Kentucky Avenue and Northwood
Drive, for $950 per acre. The new Hillcrest was part of a building program
which included the construction of Hillcrest, Cypress Springs, Glen View
Junior High, and addition to Ruston High. The contract for Hillcrest went
to R. J. Jones and Sons of Alexandria for a total bid of $362,841. The new
building was accepted in August, 1962 in time for the 1962-63 school year.
The Hillcrest PTA preferred the Hillcrest for the new school.
In 1963, the principalship at Hillcrest and
Cypress Springs were made into fulltime positions. The new Hillcrest school
had a fine period of development with an excellent devoted faculty, a
supportive parent group, and an energetic and enthusiastic student body.
The Hillcrest PTA (Parent Teacher
Association), due to differences with the national PTA in some basic
beliefs, changed its name to PTC(Parent Teacher Club) and was no longer
affiliated with the PTA. The PTC continued as an active group. The PTC has
conducted fund raising activities at the school to purchase needed items for
the school and its students.
Kindergarten was added to Hillcrest in the
1967-68 school year with half day morning and afternoon sessions. In
1970-71, the court ordered an integration plan that brought full integration
to Hillcrest with faculty and students. In the 1980’s, the emphasis was on
mastering designated reading and math skills at set grade levels. The
school adjusted to these changes and continues to provide good sound
education for just over 450 students.
The new school has a very large playground
area and a variety of playground equipment that is age-appropriate. An
indoor gymnasium provides a place for an excellent physical education
program for Kindergarten-Fifth students. The school also offers music, art,
computer lab, gifted and talented classes for students. The auxiliary
classes combined with basic classes provide a sound educational background
for each student at Hillcrest Elementary.
1983/1985 Building Addition
Renovations were done to
the existing building in 1985. Four classrooms were added. A library was
built. Books were donated from individual classrooms and also purchased to
begin the first centralized library for Hillcrest students. A multi-purpose
room was added to be used for school-wide functions, parent-teacher
meetings, music classes. Two restrooms were added. A computer lab was also
added, but was used as a regular classroom before it was actually a computer
lab.
2004 Renovation
The next major
renovation began in the spring of 2005 funded by the Bond Millage renewal in
2004. This project took about two years to complete. Michael Walpole,
Architect, headed up this project. The entire building got new lighting,
flooring, ceiling tile, roofing, and paint. All rooms got new heat/cool
units with additional venting. A new wing was added to the back of the
building which included one large room for multi-purpose use. New restrooms
for students and one new faculty restroom was in this area. Five classrooms
were also included in this wing. A new bookroom was added here. A new
intercom and fire alarm system were added to the entire building. Students
got new chairs and desks for all classrooms. Old restrooms were updated
with new fixtures, tile, lighting, etc. The office area was renovated.
During this time, the Parent Teacher Club purchased new equipment for the
playground. They also bought a stage curtain for the gym.
2008-2009
At this time, Hillcrest
has a faculty that consists of 51. This includes 20 Kindergarten-Fifth
Grade teachers, 3 special education teachers, 7 paraprofessionals, a
librarian, computer lab proctor, art, music, speech, GT, and office staff.
We have an enrollment of about 450 students, Kindergarten through
Fifth Grade with one self-contained special education
class.
The state of Louisiana places a great deal
of importance on test results and schools receive a school performance score
based on test scores, attendance, etc.
For the 2007-08 school year, Hillcrest received a
school performance score of
109. 0. This is a growth of 6.4 points from the
previous year. The growth label for the year is Exemplary Academic Growth.
The Hillcrest faculty and staff strive to
provide a safe environment to insure that all students achieve high academic
standards and develop good character. The goal is for all students to
become productive adults in today’s society.
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