Houghton-Portage Township Schools

Last updated

Houghton-Portage Township Schools
Address
1603 Gundlach Road [1]
Houghton
, Houghton County , Michigan , 49931
United States
District information
GradesPre-Kindergarten-12
SuperintendentAnders Hill [1]
Schools3 [2]
Budget$17,782,000 2021-2022 expenditures [2]
NCES District ID 2628890 [2]
Students and staff
Students1,478 (2023-2024) [2]
Teachers89.46 (on an FTE basis) (2023-2024) [2]
Staff131.65 FTE (2023-2024) [2]
Student–teacher ratio16.52 (2023-2024) [2]
Other information
Website www.hpts.us

Houghton-Portage Township Schools is a public school district in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It serves Houghton and part of Portage Township on the Keweenaw Peninsula. [3]

Contents

History

The Houghton public school district was established in 1857. [4]

The town's first high school was built in 1888 and was known as the Rock School for its tall rubble stone walls. Located on the southeast corner of Houghton Avenue and Quincy Street, [5] it was replaced by a larger building around 1900. [6] [7]

In December 1921, a fire destroyed Houghton High School, which was underinsured $35,000 (about $657,000 in 2025 dollars). [8] Classes were temporarily held in the Joseph Bosch Building and Carkeek Buildings on Sheldon Avenue in downtown Houghton. [9] The school was replaced by a new high school on the same site. [6] The cornerstone was laid on May 12, 1923 [10] and the school opened in 1924. It was ultimately replaced with the current middle/high school building. [6]

Houghton High School's then-principal Bernard F. Gaffney recommended the Gremlins team name in the 1940s. Gaffney had been a pilot in World War I, and gremlin was their name for mythical creatures who would cause malfunctions in aircraft. Houghton's basketball team was first referred to as Gremlins in the newspaper in 1946, [11] and the school's teams officially took the name in 1948. [12]

Schools

Schools in Houghton-Portage Township Schools district [1] [2]
SchoolAddressNotes
Houghton Elementary School203 West Jacker Avenue, HoughtonGrades PreK-5
Houghton Middle School1603 Gundlach Road, HoughtonGrades 6-8
Houghton High School 1603 Gundlach Road, HoughtonGrades 9-12

References

  1. 1 2 3 Houghton-Portage Township Schools. "Houghton-Portage Township Schools" . Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Houghton-Portage Township Schools". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences.
  3. ↑ Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. "Houghton County School Districts" (PDF). Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  4. ↑ Houghton-Portage Township Schools. "About Our School" . Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  5. ↑ Keweenaw Time Traveler. "The original Houghton High School..." Facebook. Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 Forgrave, Mike. "Great Buildings in Memoriam P3". Copper Country Explorer. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Lost on their contract". The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, Mich.). June 9, 1900. p. 1.
  8. ↑ "Michigan news tersely told". The Sebewaing Blade (Sebewaing, Mich.). December 29, 1921. p. 7.
  9. ↑ Editorial staff of Houghton High School yearbook. The Amygdaloid Class Book of 1923 (Houghton High School 1923 yearbook). p. 19.
  10. ↑ "The cornerstone...". Wakefield Advance (Wakefield, Mich.). April 21, 1923. p. 4.
  11. ↑ "Sport Slants". Ironwood Daily Globe (Ironwood, Mich.). December 26, 1946. p. 10.
  12. ↑ Keweenaw Community Foundation. "Houghton High School Alumni Association" . Retrieved November 18, 2025.


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