Whitehall District Schools

Last updated

Whitehall District Schools
Address
541 E. Slocum Street [1]
Whitehall
, Muskegon County , Michigan , 49461
United States
District information
GradesPre-Kindergarten-12
SuperintendentCJ Van Wieren [2]
Schools5 [3]
Budget$33,767,000 2021-2022 expenditures [3]
NCES District ID 2636300 [3]
Students and staff
Students1,923 (2023-2024) [3]
Teachers139.95 (on an FTE basis) (2023-2024) [3]
Staff355.15 FTE (2023-2024) [3]
Student–teacher ratio13.74 (2023-2024) [3]
Other information
Website www.whitehallschools.net

Whitehall District Schools is a public school district in Muskegon County, Michigan. It serves Whitehall, Lakewood Club, and parts of the townships of Blue Lake, Fruitland, Dalton, and Whitehall. [4] It is a member of the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District. [5]

Contents

History

It is unclear when the first schoolhouse in Whitehall was built, but in 1867 a second school was built. It had a capacity of 50 students. In 1870, the students were separated into grades: Primary, Grammar, and High School. [6] The district was officially established in 1877, the likely date of construction of the school at the corner of Livingston and Sophia that would serve the community until 1954. [7] [8] A gymnasium was built along Livingston Street in 1925. [9]

In 1920, the Klett School District, in an outlying area, consolidated with the Whitehall district. The district had to provide transportation to the Klett students, and hired its first school bus driver, who provided his own bus. By 1951, the district owned ten school buses. [10]

Around 1946, the school districts of Conklin, Lakewood, White Lake, Whitehall and Wilson consolidated to form the Whitehall Rural Agricultural School District. A new elementary school was built in 1950. [11] [12]

A new high school was built in 1954, which is currently the middle school. [13] [14] It was also known as White Lake Central High School. [15] This school complex was expanded in 1960 with a new high school north of the 1954 high school. [16] [17]

In 1960, a racial controversy surrounded the high school’s annual minstrel show after Black residents, organized by the Muskegon Urban League, objected to its use of blackface and degrading racial caricature. Between 1948 and 1960, parents of high school band and choir students had organized the show each year to raise money for the arts programs. Black residents complained that the student performers' use of blackface and dialect was offensive to Black people. [18] Objections were made by telephone and in person at the auditions, leading the parents' association to vote to cancel the show. [19]

The high school from the late 1800s was torn down in 1960, but the 1925 gymnasium was spared to be used as a bus garage and is still extant. [20] [7] Its 2,000 pound bell, cast in 1883, was returned to the school district grounds in 1977 to mark the district's one hundredth anniversary. [8]

The current high school opened in 2004. [21] The Viking Athletic Complex, a fieldhouse with an artificial turf field, opened in 2020 between the middle school and the former high school (now the community education building). [22]

Schools

Schools in Whitehall District Schools [14] [3]
SchoolAddressNotes
Whitehall High School3100 White Lake Dr., WhitehallGrades 9–12. Opened fall 2004 [23]
Whitehall Middle School401 S. Elizabeth St., WhitehallGrades 6–8
Helen R. Ealy Elementary425 E. Sophia St., WhitehallGrades 3–5
Whitehall Shoreline Elementary205 Market St., WhitehallGrades PreK–2
Whitehall Community Education541 E Slocum Street, WhitehallFormer high school, built 1960 [21]
Viking Athletic Center541 E Slocum Street, WhitehallAthletic center open to community membership

See also

References

  1. ↑ Whitehall District Schools. "Whitehall District Schools" . Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  2. ↑ Whitehall District Schools. "Staff Directory Superintendent" . Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Whitehall District Schools". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences.
  4. ↑ Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. "Muskegon County School Districts" (PDF). Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  5. ↑ Musekgon Area ISD. "Our Local Districts" . Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  6. ↑ Bedau Brow, Barbara (August 27, 2024). "Echoes of History - Early history of Whitehall". White Lake Mirror.
  7. 1 2 "Now wrecking". The Muskegon Chronicle. July 2, 1960. p. 21.
  8. 1 2 Jordan, Km (May 15, 1977). "Old Whitehall school's bell returns to its place of honor". The Muskegon Chronicle. p. 13.
  9. ↑ "Whitehall highschool to dedicate new gym". Muskegon Chronicle. March 6, 1925. p. 6.
  10. ↑ "Recall debut of school bus at Whitehall". The Muskegon Chronicle. March 24, 1951. p. 10.
  11. ↑ "P.D. Chatterton, Whitehall superintendent, resigns". The Muskegon Chronicle. July 27, 1950. p. 11.
  12. ↑ "Collins patrons to vote tonight on consolidation". The Muskegon Chronicle. December 6, 1946. p. 8.
  13. ↑ "Streamlined new Whitehall school taking shape". The Muskegon Chronicle. April 10, 1954. p. 20.
  14. 1 2 Whitehall District Schools. "Our Schools" . Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  15. ↑ Editorial staff of Whitehall High School. Vikings Echo 1955 (1955 Whitehall High School yearbook). p. 2.
  16. ↑ Editorial staff of Whitehall High School. Vikings Echo 1962 (1962 Whitehall High School yearbook). pp. 2–3.
  17. ↑ "Whitehall opens $1,400,000 new school". Grand Rapids Press. May 16, 1960. p. 39.
  18. ↑ United Press International (November 26, 1960). "Negro groups protest show as 'degrading'". Port Huron Times Herald. p. 2.
  19. ↑ "No show is voted for Whitehall High School". Muskegon Chronicle. November 29, 1960. p. 11.
  20. ↑ "Vacant no longer". The Muskegon Chronicle. December 28, 1966. p. 9.
  21. 1 2 "Whitehall OES gives style show". The Muskegon Chronicle. August 23, 1960. p. 4.
  22. ↑ Zywicki, Alison (February 16, 2020). "Community Viking Athletic Complex opens". The Muskegon Chronicle. p. A6.
  23. ↑ Treutler, Susan K. (August 30, 2004). "New high school greets students in Whitehall". Muskegon Chronicle. p. B1.
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