South Haven Public Schools

Last updated
South Haven Public Schools
Address
554 Green Street [1]
South Haven
, Van Buren County , Michigan , 49090
United States
District information
GradesPre-Kindergarten-12
SuperintendentAna Aleman-Putman [2]
Schools6 [3]
Budget$30,361,000 2021-2022 expenditures [3]
NCES District ID 2632300 [3]
Students and staff
Students1,779 (2023-2024) [3]
Teachers120.25 (on an FTE basis) (2023-2024) [3]
Staff257.73 FTE (2023-2024) [3]
Student–teacher ratio14.79 (2023-2024) [3]
Other information
Website www.shps.org

South Haven Public Schools is a public school district in southwest Michigan. In Van Buren County, it serves South Haven and parts of the townships of Geneva and South Haven. [4] In Allegan County it serves part of Casco Township. [5]

Contents

History

The first school in South Haven was established in 1852 at the corner of Indiana Avenue and Superior Street. [6] Near the intersection of School Street and Erie Street, a frame school building was built in 1858. It was expanded and improved upon several times over the next fifty years, receiving a brick veneer in 1897. [7]

Some of South Haven's early schools included Indiana Elementary from 1898, Hartman Elementary from 1906, [8] [9] and the former South Haven High School from 1913. It was built east of the 1858 high school, facing Broadway. [10]

The 1913 high school was expanded west along Erie Street in 1925 with a section called the Central Building. [11] [12] The addition was dedicated in fall 1926. [13] The Vocational Building, facing Superior Street, was added to the high school campus in 1936. Lincoln Elementary was built in 1954. [11]

Replacing the 1913 high school, L.C. Mohr High School opened in fall 1961, named after the district superintendent who had served for thirty years. [14] The high school is also simply known as South Haven High School and continues to serve as such. [15] The architect was Guido Binda of Battle Creek. [16] The former high school became a junior high and later, an elementary school. [17]

Baseline Middle School opened in January 1993. The new building featured technology such as a centralized video system and industrial robots for career education. Grades six, seven and eight each had a classroom wing identified by green, blue, or burgundy carpets. [17] [8]

In 1999, the historic Central, Hartman, Indiana buildings were still in use, with a section of Central condemned due to air quality concerns. [8] Repeated bond issue votes to fund construction failed until 2003. [18] The new school, North Shore Elementary, opened in fall 2005 and replaced those three schools. [19] Listiak Auditorium, with 570 seats, opened at the high school in May 2006. [20] A South Haven graduate converted Indiana Elementary into two condos. [21] Hartman School, at 355 Hubbard Street, was repurposed as the Historical Association of South Haven. [6] Central Elementary was redeveloped into residential units beginning in 2007. [22]

Schools

Schools in South Haven Public Schools district [23] [3]
SchoolAddressNotes
South Haven High School600 Elkenburg, South HavenGrades 9–12. Built 1961. [6]
Baseline Middle School7357 Baseline Road, South HavenGrades 6–8. Built 1993. [17]
Lincoln Elementary500 Elkenburg Street, South HavenGrades PreK-3
Maple Grove Elementary72399 12th Avenue, South HavenGrades PreK-3
North Shore Elementary7320 North Shore Dr., South HavenGrades 4–5. Built 2005. [19]
S.H.A.C.125 Veterans Blvd., South HavenSouth Haven Alliance Campus. Alternative high school within the South Haven campus of Lake Michigan College.

References

  1. ↑ South Haven Public Schools. "South Haven Public Schools" . Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  2. ↑ South Haven Public Schools. "Staff" . Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for South Haven Public Schools". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences.
  4. ↑ Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. "Van Buren County School Districts" (PDF). Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  5. ↑ Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. "Allegan County School Districts" (PDF). Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 Visit South Haven. "History in South Haven" . Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  7. ↑ Editorial staff of South Haven High School yearbook. The Student Crier Commencement Number June 1912 (South Haven High School 1912 yearbook). pp. 14–15.
  8. 1 2 3 Finnerty, Ed (September 26, 1999). "Aging buildings, big plans". The Kalamazoo Gazette. p. 1.
  9. ↑ "Tax proposals, bond issues, candidates fill Monday's ballot". Kalamazoo Gazette. June 8, 2003. p. 15.
  10. ↑ Editorial staff of South Haven High School yearbook. The Annual 1913 (South Haven High School 1913 yearbook). pp. 47–48.
  11. 1 2 Editorial staff of South Haven High School yearbook. Purple and Gold 1955 (South Haven High School yearbook 1955). p. 3.
  12. ↑ "South Haven approves new junior high school". Grand Rapids Press. March 18, 1925. p. 4.
  13. ↑ United Press (October 7, 1926). "South Haven school dedication planned". Kalamazoo Gazette. p. 3.
  14. ↑ Editorial staff of South Haven High School yearbook. Purple and Gold 1962 (South Haven High School yearbook 1962). p. 2.
  15. ↑ "New South Haven High School ready". The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Mich.). July 1, 1961. p. 16.
  16. ↑ "Ground broken for new South Haven High School". The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Mich.). April 29, 1960. p. 17.
  17. 1 2 3 Lersten, Andrew (January 17, 1993). "The Taj Mahal?". The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Mich.). p. 1B.
  18. ↑ [Michigan Department of Treasury. "STATE QUALIFIED SCHOOL BOND ELECTION RESULTS VAN BUREN COUNTY South Haven Public Schools" . Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  19. 1 2 Lersten, Andrew (September 1, 2005). "District residents allowed sneak-preview of made-over buildings". The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Mich.). p. A1.
  20. ↑ Lersten, Andrew (May 7, 2006). "Auditorium finally opens at high school". The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Mich.). p. B1.
  21. ↑ Lersten, Andrew (July 1, 2006). "Old school turned into condos". The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Mich.). p. A1.
  22. ↑ Lersten, Andrew (March 23, 2007). "Central Lofts condos are on a fast track". The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Mich.). p. B2.
  23. ↑ South Haven Public Schools. "Schools menu" . Retrieved November 4, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.