1 of 4
Photo courtesy of Homewood City Schools.
Lene Brown’s 1962-63 first graders pose for their class portrait.
2 of 4
Photos courtesy of Homewood City Schools.
Edgewood’s 1947 fourth grade class.
3 of 4
Photos courtesy of Homewood City Schools.
Mrs. Shackelford’s third grade class in 1979.
4 of 4
Photos courtesy of Homewood City Schools.
Former Edgewood custodian/maintenance worker Monroe Shack with kids who donated to get him a scooter in the early 1950s.
It’s not every day that you get to attend a 100th birthday party, but if you happen to drop by Edgewood Elementary on the afternoon of Nov. 17, you’ll find yourself doing just that.
The school turned 100 this year, and the administration and parent-teacher organization have partnered together to celebrate the century of education that Edgewood has offered.
While they broke ground on the school in 1924, Catie Seale, a member of Edgewood’s PTO and chair of the centennial committee created to organize the celebration, said she thinks the school actually opened in 1926 with 12 first graders.
“There was a huge fire at Edgewood in the ’50s,” Seale said. “So a lot of our history and newspaper articles, things like that, have been lost because of the fire.”
The fire began on the night of Nov. 13, 1953, in the cafeteria, which used to be in the basement. Nobody was injured, but the cafeteria and 10 classrooms were destroyed. Another two rooms were heavily damaged, and the entire building sustained smoke and water damage.
Seale said it’s been difficult to piece together the school’s history without those documents, but they’re doing their best to collect everything they can for the celebration as the school plans to have a historical slideshow playing in the gym during the event. They will also have an artifact museum in the library, featuring mementos from the school’s past.
From what they know so far, Edgewood used to house students from first grade to seventh or eighth, and kindergarten wasn’t offered until 1934, but Seale said kindergarten classes came and went until they became permanently sometime in the ’70s or ’80s. The school hired its first African-American teacher in 1968 and desegregated in 1969.
Photos courtesy of Homewood City Schools.
Edgewood’s 1947 fourth grade class.
Grades six and up left the school in 1972, when Homewood High School opened.
Edgewood currently has 50 classrooms, a result of multiple additions to the building over the years. Seale remembers the most recent edition taking place in 2020 or 2021, while her daughter, Anderson, was a student there. Anderson is currently in fifth grade at Edgewood.
Andrea Krueger, a kindergarten teacher at Edgewood for the past 37 years, said the growth is the biggest change in the school.
“The amount of students and teachers has nearly doubled,” Krueger said. “When I started teaching at Edgewood in 1987, we had around 550 students. We now have over 900 students.”
Photos courtesy of Homewood City Schools.
Mrs. Shackelford’s third grade class in 1979.
Edgewood is home to 926 students from kindergarten to fifth grade. Along with the growth, Krueger said the academic process has also changed over the years.
“When I first started teaching at Edgewood, kindergarten focused on social and emotional growth, along with foundational literacy and math skills through play,” she said. “Today, there’s a greater emphasis on academic rigor in reading and math. This shift offers an exciting opportunity to enhance our students’ learning experiences while still fostering their social and emotional development.”
Seale says programs like their My Pals Day, which all Homewood elementary schools participate in, foster development. My Pals Day allows students to invite friends, family and neighbors to visit them and their classroom for the day. This year’s My Pals Day was Oct. 25.
Edgewood’s House System is also a unique aspect of their school. The system is modeled after the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, and it allows students and teachers to form closer relationships across classrooms and grade levels. There are 10 houses, each named using a different world language and corresponding to outstanding characteristics. The houses embody diligence, perseverance, courage, kindness, confidence, wisdom, gratitude, respect, happiness and compassion.
When students and faculty join Edgewood, they have a special celebration where new house members are welcomed by current house members. They host monthly events where students and staff dress in their house color and participate in special activities that focus on team building and service. Students are also recognized for implementing house traits in their daily actions and can earn house points by doing so.
Krueger loves how these aspects of Edgewood allow teachers to be connected to students and their families.
“My favorite thing about Edgewood is how involved we are with the families in our community,” she said. “I love attending my student’s sporting events, recitals, Edgewood events and seeing them around Homewood. My students also know that once they are a ‘Krueger Kid’ they will always be a ‘Krueger Kid,’ and I have attended many weddings and baby showers of my former students.”
She also notes that with many people who grew up in Edgewood making the conscious effort to return to the neighborhood to raise their own families, there is a tremendous sense of school pride.
“The building may look a little different, but all the wonderful things that make Edgewood special remain the same,” Krueger said. “Edgewood is a wonderful place to live, learn, teach and grow.”
The centennial celebration will take place at Edgewood on Nov. 17 from 2-4 p.m. Along with the slideshow and museum, there will be a historical marker and ribbon-cutting ceremony, a time capsule on display, a birthday song celebration with refreshments, a group photo and an opportunity to snag commemorative Edgewood gear.
