Published: August 1, 2000

Can This School Be Saved?

This June, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included the category of "historic neighborhood schools" on its list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, an annual report of landmarks in danger of disappearing. Below are four historic schools the National Trust uses as examples, along with Teacher Magazine' s summaries of their struggles to survive. Many more schools across the country face the wrecking ball, as deferred maintenance and policies promoting the construction of mega-schools conspire to make old schools history. "This is not just tragic," says National Trust President Richard Moe, "it is completely unnecessary."

BROADWATER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (1909)

Location: Billings, Montana, in a...