History of North College Hill City Schools

North College Hill City School District is made up of the City of North College Hill and an adjacent portion of unincorporated Springfield Township that includes West College Hill. The first school in the area was a little, brown, one-room building built on a piece of ground donated by Robert Carey, who moved here from New Hampshire in 1803. This building was sold and moved away in 1868.

 

The Ninth District School, also known as Clovernook School, was built in 1868 and was also one room. The school served the community until 1922. Goodman Avenue School was built in September 1922. The school enrollment at that time was 190 children. Anyone interested in attending high school went to Mt. Healthy High School.

 

In 1931, the Van Zandt Road School was built. From 1931 to 1933, only two years of high school were available, but the third and fourth years were added within the next two years. The first graduation class of North College Hill High School was 1935.

 

The first school in West College Hill was built in 1904 and was originally part of Special School District #13 owned by Springfield Township. It was a one-room school located on a knoll between Innes, Witherby, First and Second Avenues. When North College hill became an incorporated village in 1916, the school became part of the North College Hill Exempted Village School District. The new Steele Grade School was built in 1931 on the same site as the previous school and served the community until 1962. 

 

On January 23, 1938 North College Hill High School was dedicated and served the community for 72 years. There were several additions and renovations to the school over the years. The Van Zandt and High School buildings were connected by the "tunnel," and in recent years, served as one school - North College Hill Junior-Senior High School. The most recent addition to the site as the current gymnasium built in 1970. At the same time the old gymnasium was converted into an auditorium. 

 

Clovernook Elementary was built in 1957, and a library, gym/cafeteria and six classrooms were added in 1962.

 

Josie Becker Elementary School was opened for instruction in 1962. It replaced Steele School and Goodman Elementary school. Goodman was reopened two years later.

 

In April 2004, a District Facilities Assessment Committee was formed to study the needs of the district. The committee was composed of staff, parents, and community members. In the spring of 2007, the district was notified by the Ohio School Facilities Commission that we were eligible for funding for 63% of the costs of new schools. In November 2007, nearly 60% of the voters of the community supported a bond issue to pay for the local share. Groundbreaking occurred on September 12, 2008.