Millard Public Schools - History of District

About MPS > History of District

1870-1939 | 1940-1958 | 1959-1970 | 1971-1979 | 1980-1989 | 1990-2005 | 2005-present

Millard, a suburban area in southwest Omaha, was founded over 125 years ago by Ezra Millard (1833-1886). He was born in Canada. His family moved to Iowa, and as young men, he and his brother, Joseph, came to Omaha in 1856. They established the Land Office of Barrows, Millard and Company. Later, Ezra Millard founded the Omaha National Bank.

In 1870, he platted Millard, a mostly uninhabited prairie 12 miles southeast of the city. The town was officially incorporated on September 26, 1885. Ezra Millard also left a legacy by helping to establish the Omaha Library Association, Omaha School for the Deaf, and Omaha's first public high school. He served as the twelfth mayor of Omaha and was a member of the Territorial Legislature. In 1988, Ezra Millard Elementary School was built and named in his honor.

The Early Years
The first school in Millard was established in the fall of 1870 with six pupils. The students met in various buildings of a local farmer. In 1876, the first school was built and furnished for $2,700. One early student spoke of attending the school in 1910, which consisted of grades one through ten, with the upper grades being taught by a male teacher who also served as principal. By 1913, the population of Millard had reached 315 and grew to 350 in the 1930s. In 1930, the first school was destroyed by fire. A new brick school was built on the same site, which is now 132nd and Millard Avenue. The new school was named Central and served as Millard's only school until 1960, when the present Central Middle School was opened. The old brick building is still in use as the home of the Millard Learning Center. Until 1938, students who wanted a high school diploma usually completed their education at Omaha South High School. In 1938, Millard graduated its first senior class.

Leadership
From the beginning, the Millard Public School District has been governed by a board of education. In the early years, all voting members of the school district were invited to an annual meeting where the year's budget and tax rate were set. In 1959, the school district was no longer considered rural, and a reclassification allowed the board of education to set its budget and elect its own officers. The general operating officer was the superintendent who, in the early years, also served as a part-time teacher and was often a coach. *Superintendents included: R.W. Stickney (1942-1946), Harold Hultman (1946-1948), Ray Jenkins (1948-1953), Richard Riggs Todd (1954-1955), Don Stroh (1955-1989), Ron Witt (1989-1995), and Keith Lutz (1995-present). *Earlier records were destroyed in the fire at Central Elementary in 1930.

During the 1940s and 1950s, the seven staff members could individually negotiate their salaries with the school board. The amount depended on whether or not the teacher had earned a college degree, and female and elementary teachers tended to earn less than the rest of the staff.

The Superintendent also taught a few classes. The first benefit allowed teachers to take three days of sick leave per year. During this time, the secondary level courses included English, math, science, social studies, and business. Millard was regarded as a leader in some ways as the elementary curriculum included a reading program in kindergarten, which was unusual for the time.

Extra-curricular activities included baseball, basketball, and football for boys and Pep Club for girls. At a school board meeting in 1950, the minutes recorded that the board voted to stop the use of the school auditorium for dances because "the Rural County Teenage Dances are out of hand." During this time, the budget and tax rate were set through a vote of the community; however, no participation on the part of women can be found in the official records during 1946-1955.

The bus program started in 1958 with the purchase of two school buses. Also during that year, the first Parent Teacher Organization was started. Millard remained a small but thriving town with a population of about 400 until the late 1950s

TIn 1957-59, the original school district (which was confined to about four square miles surrounding the town of Millard) expanded its boundaries through a merger with seven rural districts to reach its present size of 35 square miles in Douglas and Sarpy counties.

The driving force for this consolidation was the opening in 1958 of the Western Electric plant, just north of the original town. Rapid population growth soon followed when the interstate highway connected Millard with the heart of Omaha in 1962. The interstate highway brought suburban living into the Millard area. Almost immediately, an architect was hired to plan a new junior-senior high school. On Tuesday, October 28, 1958, voters passed the first bond issue which allocated $750,000 to build the new secondary building. The vote marked the first of 13 successful bond issues passed by the Millard community -- no bond issue has ever failed. In 1960, 22 teachers served 420 students. By 1965, 88 teachers served 1,877 students. By 1970, 223 teachers served 4,576 students. During the 1960s, Millard was the fastest growing community in Nebraska. The population grew by 635 percent from 1960 to 1970 and the student enrollment increased by 975 percent.

During this period, Millard Public Schools erected eight schools: Millard Jr./Sr. High - now Central Middle School, 1960; Bryan, 1963; Norris and Cody, 1964; Sandoz, 1967; Cather, 1968; Millard High School - now Millard South High School and Hitchcock, 1970. Schools could not be built fast enough for the growing enrollment, so homes occasionally were bought for use as classrooms. Homes as well as portables continued to be used throughout the district's history to meet the rapidly growing enrollment. The hot lunch program was introduced in 1960, and students paid 30 cents for a meal. Also in 1960, schools were reorganized so that the elementary consisted of grades kindergarten through sixth grade -- prior to that, students from kindergarten through the eighth grade attended the elementary school. In 1960, the opening of the new secondary school, serving grades 7-12, brought about an expanded educational program. New courses included industrial arts, physical education, business, music, drivers education, and physics. Home economics had been added in 1957. Summer school programs started in 1956.

In 1962, administrators began developing a new and growing special education program. In 1969, the first request was made for a computer. The opening of the new high school in 1970 allowed the district to split secondary students as seventh through ninth graders in the junior high and tenth through twelfth graders in the high school. By the late 1960s, the Nebraska State Department of Education was awarding Millard Public Schools a double A rating, for offering programs well above the general level of fully accredited schools -- an accreditation that remains today.

After lengthy legal fights, the city of Millard was annexed by the city of Omaha in 1971. There also were attempts through both the state legislature and the court system to annex Millard into the Omaha Public Schools, but the Millard School District remained an independent unit.

By 1971, the school district had become the ninth largest in the state, and by 1978, it was the third largest. In a newspaper interview during this time, Superintendent Don Stroh discussed the challenges of sustained rapid growth. He emphasized the need to be flexible in construction of school buildings such as using movable walls and placing utilities in the ceilings for possible changes. Even available space in shopping malls was used as temporary sites until buildings were ready for students.

In 1978, to ease overcrowding in secondary schools, students were split between sites in what was called a 2-2-2 arrangement: 7-8 graders at one site, 9-10 graders at another site, and 11-12 graders at a third site. The district also launched a six-year study of year-round school as a way to accommodate more students with fewer schools. Millard voters rejected a proposal to hold year-round school in 1977. Not all of the student growth during this period was due to suburban growth in west Omaha. In 1972, the possibility of court ordered busing for Omaha Public Schools was reported, and in the fall of 1976 it was implemented. Of the district's 838 new students in 1976, 310 were transfers from the Omaha Public Schools.

During this period, the following schools were built: Montclair, 1971; Holling Heights and Millard North Middle School, 1973; Morton and Disney, 1974; Neihardt, 1977; Cottonwood, 1978; Harvey Oaks and Rockwell, 1979. The changing American society of the late 60s and early 70s was reflected in the addition of drug education, sex education, and boys taking home economics courses. In 1974, gifted education was introduced. In 1979, a Montessori elementary program was established to provide an alternative curriculum choice. The program is based on the Montessori philosophy utilizing multi-age classrooms and individualized, "hands-on" instruction.

Enrollment growth slowed in the early 1980s, when high inflation resulted in fewer homes being built. Later in the decade, the economy rebounded and the building boom was back. However, enrollment growth was uneven, as schools in some of the older neighborhoods started to experience a decline in students.

By 1988, the school board began busing about 2,100 students to older and less crowded elementary schools. During this period, the educational program matured with adoption of many new programs including health and computer literacy. During this period, talk of consolidation again surfaced due to funding concerns. The Omaha Public School District discussed the possibility of taking in the suburban school districts. As the economy became more stable in the late 1980s and Omaha schools began to grow again, the Omaha Board of Education stopped talks of a merger. During this period, the following schools were built: Abbott and Millard North High School, 1981; Ackerman, 1982; Andersen Middle School, 1986; Ezra and Kiewit Middle School in 1988. In 1981, the opening of a second high school allowed the district to bring together 9-12 grades at Millard North and Millard South High Schools. Starting in 1987, the junior highs (7-8 grade) began converting to middle schools which serve 6-8 grades, providing more space for crowded elementary schools. In 1989, a new administration center opened, named for long-time superintendent, Don Stroh. Also during the 1980s, increased concerns over funding resulted in Millard joining a growing number of districts to start a non-profit education foundation (Millard Education Foundation) to help support the district's programs. In 1984, the Millard Education Foundation started the first before and after school child care program in an elementary school. Kids Network, as it is called, is now available in all elementary schools.

Since 1990, improvements to the educational program have been guided through a strategic planning process involving thousands of community and staff members. Strategic planning has led to the development of the Millard Education Program, which uses clearly defined and measured standards to ensure that all students learn academic and life skills that are necessary for responsible living and personal success.

Strategic planning also has brought about all-day kindergarten and advancements made in the use of technology for learning. In 1995, the Millard Core Academy was established to provide an alternative curriculum choice for elementary students. The academy emphasizes phonics and the fundamentals of math and other subjects. In 2001, Millard North High School became the first in Nebraska to offer an International Baccalaureate (IB) program. IB uses elements of the world's best educational systems, and its courses and examinations are accepted for credit by prestigious universities around the world.

In 1997, Millard voters passed an $89 million bond issue to provide technology for all schools, remodeling or additions to existing schools, and construction of two new elementary schools and a middle school. The following schools were built since 1990: Willowdale Elementary, 1993; Aldrich Elementary and Russell Middle School, 1994; Black Elk Elementary and Millard West High School, 1995; Rohwer Elementary, 1999; Wheeler Elementary, 2000; Beadle Middle School, 2001; Reeder Elementary, 2005. Today, the district maintains three high schools, six middle schools, and twenty-three elementary schools.

Millard offers diverse programs to meet the needs of all learners in its quest to provide a world-class education for all! Pre-school programs are available. All-day Kindergarten is offered in every elementary school. The “High Ability Learner” program serves intellectually gifted students and has been expanded to include children who have exceptional talents in music.

A comprehensive special education program serves students from preschool to high school.

The Millard schools also offer several specialized programs including the Core Academy, Montessori, and Nebraska’s only K-12 International Baccalaureate program. In recognition of these innovative programs, the Millard School District was awarded a national Magna Award given by the American School Board Journal and Marriott School Services.

Thirteen Millard schools have earned the prestigious Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education. Millard’s SAT and ACT scores are higher than metro, state and national averages. The American Library Association has called Millard’s school libraries among the best in the nation. The American Music Conference has named Millard’s music program one of the top 100 programs in the country. Kiplinger's Magazine cited the "top-rated, nationally recognized" Millard School District as one of the reasons Omaha rates No. 3 in the list of the Top 10 Best Cities for 2008.

The Millard School District has received praise for achieving world-class results through effective strategic planning. Millard is one of three districts nationwide profiled in the book: Leading Change, The Case for Continuous Improvement, published by The National School Boards Association.

For 140 years, the Millard schools have prepared their students for the world beyond the walls of the schools. Dedicated teachers, hard-working students and supportive parents ensure that the Millard School District provides a world-class education!

Millard is ready to handle the future!

Voters approved a $78 million bond issue on February 15, 2005, marking an unbroken chain of 13 successful bond issues dating back to the 1950s. The bond issue provided new schools and renovations and additions to some existing schools to serve the district's growing enrollment. Ronald Reagan Elementary School, 4440 S. 198 Ave., opened in 2007. Wilma Upchurch Elementary School, 8686 S. 165 St., opened in 2008. In 2010, Millard Horizon High School will open near 208th and Q Streets. This alternative school also will provide a separate wing housing career academies. The bonds also provided $20 million for technology. The bond issue will ensure that all schools have top-notch facilities and computer resources for many years to come.