The original Linwood Elementary School opened its doors in 1910. It was located at 1340 S. Pattie. (Which is now home to Goldenrod Park.) The original school only had four classrooms. The school added more classrooms in 1912 but it wasn’t enough.
Unlike most Wichita Elementary schools, Linwood is not named after a specific person but rather a neighborhood. The Linwood neighborhood fills the area between Hydraulic and Washington plus the area between Harry and Lincoln.
In 1929, a petition signed by around 400 people requested another addition to the school. It was approved and by 1930 the building had 12 classrooms.
Courtesy: Wichita Public Schools
In 1974 another bond was used to add a multipurpose room, kitchen, restrooms and storage space. In 1981, the library media center was upgraded, and in 1985, a computer lab and special ed lab were added.
The big bond issue in 2000 led to the creation of the new Linwood Elementary. Three schools were built using similar plans; Linwood, Allen and Enterprise. The new Linwood Elementary School welcomed students in 2004. The school was expanded again in 2010.
I was one of those people that hated to see part of the park go to the school board. I’m still not totally sure how I feel about it. South Linwood and North Linwood hold a lot of childhood memories for me. But I will also say, I don’t remember doing much in that particular chunk of land.
The generic looking school sits on the edge of the park. I loved the playground and there is a mosaic near the front entrance that I loved. The more we looked at it the more details we noticed. At first it’s obvious with the map and the city flag, but then you notice the bike paths, the high schools, WSU, Intrust Arena, three different airports, and a nice skyline. I tried to include a few pictures here so you can take a look for yourself.
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