| Olive Branch High School | |
|---|---|
| Western side of the former school | |
| Address | |
| 9520 West National Road New Carlisle, Ohio, (Clark County), 45344 United States |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public, Coeducational high school |
| Established | 1880 |
| Closed | ? |
| Grades | 9-12 |
Olive Branch High School was a public high school near New Carlisle, Ohio.
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In 1878, the Legislature of Ohio passed a law authorizing township Boards of Education to establish a school of higher grade than a common school. A decision was quickly made to create Olive Branch High School, but due to lack of funds, the new school wasn't established until October 1880, when one room of the Olive Branch School (which had been established in 1873 for grades 4 through 8, in a brick structure known as No. 3) was put into service for a high school class headed by teacher Robert H. Taylor. Courses taught at the school included Latin, Algebra, Geometry, Science, and others. The first class started with five students, but grew to seven by the time its members graduated from grade 11 in 1883.
In 1884, the school became a four-year institution with the addition of a grade 12, so the pupils who graduated in 1883 came back for another year—with a new teacher, as Robert Taylor left after his third year—and graduated again with the class of 1884. That same year, a Superintendent position was created and filled by Mr. Taylor's brother, W.S. Taylor.
In 1886, a second teacher was hired, but the faculty was reduced back down to one teacher the following year.
In 1908, after 8 years of planning, a new building was constructed, and all the students were moved to it. This building was destroyed by fire on November 10, 1913. Classes were held in a barn until a replacement building was finished in December 1914. Known locally as the "Little Round School House", this building had a unique circular design with four classrooms that pointed inward to face a central cafeteria. Built on the same foundation, it was identical to the original building, but had doors added to each classroom so students could easily exit the building in case of fire. It was well-maintained and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in July 2009. As of 2010 it is still standing.[1]
From 1910 to 1916, the school had two teachers. In 1916, a third teacher was added in order to comply with a new state law requiring high schools to have three faculty in order to retain its standing as a 'first-grade' high school. At the time, Olive Branch was one of only two rural schools in the state to retain its standing.
A Smith–Hughes agriculture course was added in 1922.
In 1928, a new, larger brick building was constructed on land adjacent to the "Little Round School House". At some point, New Carlisle High School, built in 1921, absorbed Olive Branch High School's classes, and the 1928 building became Olive Branch Junior High School (grades 7 & 8), and then in 1980 it became Olive Branch Middle School (grades 6 through 8), before being demolished and replaced by Tecumseh Middle School in 2007.
Meanwhile, in the 1950s and early 1960s, the "Little Round School House" was used to house classes from Tecumseh High School, which is located a hundred meters away on West National Road. In 1963, it changed to an over-flow elementary school. In the early 1970s, it ceased housing classes, and since then the building has been used for storage.
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