Silas Bartsch
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Silas Bartsch was the first superintendent of the Kings Canyon Unified School District in Reedley, California. He remained superintendent for five years, leaving to begin a career at then Fresno Pacific College. He moved to Reedley with his family when he was 14. He graduated from Reedley High School and enlisted in the army at age 17. Returning to Reedley upon discharge, he graduated from Reedley College in 1949, attended Fresno State and San Jose State, and graduated from Chapman College in Los Angeles with a major in history and education. He completed a year of post graduate study at Berkley Baptist Divinity School before beginning his teaching career in 1952 as a fourth grade teacher at Washington School.
Bartsch later taught at General Grant School before becoming principal in 1958. In 1961, he was appointed superintendent of Reedley Elementary School District, and in 1965, of the newly formed Kings Canyon Unified School District. Five years later, he began a new teaching career at Fresno Pacific College, but he remained active in his hometown until his death.
For the legacy he left behind in his hometown, a new K-8 school is named after him in Reedley, California. He and his wife also have a building on the Fresno Pacific University campus named after them; Bartsch Hall.
