Swartz Creek Community Schools Explained

Swartz Creek Community School District
Country:United States
Location:Genesee County, Michigan
Coordinates:42.9619°N -83.8264°W
President:Carrie Germain
Vice-President:Brian Sepanak
Superintendent:Rodney Hetherton
Asst Superintendent:Jim Kitchen
Free Label:Intermediate District
Free Text:Genesee

Swartz Creek Community School District is a public school district in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and in the Genesee Intermediate School District. The School District serves the City of Swartz Creek, parts of Flint, Flint Charter Township, Gaines Township, Clayton Township, Argentine Township and Village of Lennon even over into Shiawassee County.

History

S.T. Crapo donated part of the Crapo Farm land[1] [2] $40,000 which the school district matched with a bond to build the Mary Crapo School, named in honor of former Michigan Governor Henry H. Crapo's wife, with construction begin in 1928 and opened in 1929. The building original held all grades including kindergarten. The first graduating class of 1930 had four students.[3]

With consolidation of a number of one room schoolhouse districts, Mary Crapo had a western wing added. The current high school was built in 1958 followed by the middle school and most of the current elementary schools. In 1983, Center Stage community theater group made Mary Crapo its performance home.

On May 8, 2008, two bond millage were on the ballot, one for a new high school and technology upgrades. The second to build an auditorium at the new high school.[4]

The Building and Site Fund levy was renewed at a 1.8 mills in May 2011. The school board agreed on June 9, 2011, to purchase the Cage Fieldhouse from Cage Management Group for additional sports practice space with the Cage Group to manage the facility.[5] On June 23, 2011, the school board approved the design of the performing arts center. The center was funded via a qualified school construction bond, a part of the federal stimulus package, to be paid back via the existing Building and Site Fund millage.[6] The center was official opened on September 5, 2013. The center was official opened on September 5, 2013.[7] Center Stage held 100 plays at Mary Crapo by the time they left the school in 2013.

In June 2014, Swartz Creek and Clio School District agreed to share administrative staff. First, the two district agreed to share a finance director follow by sharing an executive director of personnel.[8]

In early 2018, the school board voted to close Mary Crapo building at the end of the school year and move the Child Development Center and Swartz Creek Academy (alternative education) to a former doctor's office on Morrish Road and to the middle school, respectively. The move would cost less than the $625,000 needed to fix and upgrade Crapo.

In 2019 the high school upgraded, modernized, and expanded its athletic field complex.

In 2021 Multiple additions would be added to the community schools, middle school, and high school.

Buildings

BuildingTypeBuiltLocation
Mary Crapo SchoolAlternative High & pre-school1928Swartz Creek
Swartz Creek Highsecondary1958
Swartz Creek Middlesecondary1967
Gaineselementary1880Village of Gaines
Syringelementary1959Swartz Creek
Morrishelementary1964Mundy Township
Elms Roadelementary1966Swartz Creek
Dieck (Van Vleet Road)elementary1969Clayton Township
Cage FieldhouseSports facilitySwartz Creek
Little Dragons Centerday care

High school

The Swartz Creek High School is a secondary school in Swartz Creek build in 1958. The school was initially constructed with a 900–1,000 student capacity. Immediately after opening, the district had plans to add two new wings.[4]

Sports

Swartz Creek Community School
School:Swartz Creek High
Conference:Flint Metro League
Director:Sue Calvo
Location:Swartz Creek, Michigan
Teams:football, cross country, basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Soccer, Tennis, Swimming, Lacrosse, Track, Golf, Ice Hockey
Nickname:Dragons
Color1:Red
Color2:White
Hex1:FF0000
Hex2:FFFFFF
Hex3:000000
ClassA
Year Joined/Rejoined1968/2006
LeagueStartEnd
County C19501960
County B19601968
Flint Metro19681976
Big 919762006
Flint Metro2006present
[9]

At the Little Red School House No.2 back in the late 19th century, Swartz Creek Schools started its sports tradition starting with a championship girls baseball team followed by a winning boys baseball team. In the 1940s, the football team earned the county championship trophy awarded by the Flint Journal, which nicknamed the Swartz Creek Teams as the "Dragons", after which the yearbook was called the dragon. Swartz Creek belong to the County B League then joined the Flint Metro League upon its founding in 1968[10] until the 1976 when they joined the Big Nine Conference. The Cross Country squad had extraordinary success racking 15 Big Nine Conference championships, many Greater Flint Area Champions, Regional Champions, multiple state meet appearances with runners up in 1982 and State Championship in 1986. Given the even large schools in the Big 9 that were some times classified as AA making teams uncompetitive in league play, Swartz Creek returned to the Flint Metro League in 2006.[10]

Notable alumni

References

  1. News: A look back: Crapo Farm Depot in Swartz Creek was once the only private farm depot in North America. September 1, 2016 . The Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. February 24, 2011.
  2. News: Blythe. Natalie. Moments in history: Swartz Creek celebrates 175th anniversary of Miller settlement. September 7, 2016. Swartz Creek View. View Newspaper Group (JAMS Media). January 27, 2011.
  3. News: Acosta . Roberto . Memories flow out at open house ahead of Mary Crapo School closure . February 12, 2019 . Flint Journal . MLive Media Group . May 20, 2018.
  4. News: Bagley . Autumn . Swartz Creek teachers feel the squeeze in overcrowding . February 25, 2019 . Flint Journal . MLive.com . April 15, 2007.
  5. News: Habermehl . Kayla . Swartz Creek district officials: Cage Fieldhouse purchase will allow for more community . February 25, 2019 . Flint Journal . MLive Media Group . June 10, 2011.
  6. News: Habermehl . Kayla . Swartz Creek performing arts center project moves on to next step . 12 February 2019 . The Flint Journal . MLive.com . June 23, 2011.
  7. News: Acosta . Roberto . Multi-million dollar performing arts center in Swartz Creek ready for unveiling . February 12, 2019 . Flint Journal . MLive Media Group . September 4, 2013.
  8. News: Acosta . Roberto . Clio and Swartz Creek schools make move to share new personnel director . February 25, 2019 . Flint Journal . MLive Media Group . June 26, 2014.
  9. http://michigan-football.com/f/swartzcr.htm Michigan High School Football: Swartz Creek Dragons
  10. News: Greg. Tunnicliff. Balance, competitiveness, friendships keep league rolling. Flint Journal. Advance Newspapers. 2. 2007-09-17. https://archive.today/20121210072701/http://www.mlive.com/flint/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports-6/1189687831316090.xml&coll=5&thispage=1. 2012-12-10. dead.

External links