The History of Northside Elementary School:

Northside School was originally housed in army barracks just beyond the present school site on Country Club Road. Mr. Jennings was the first principal of the school, which included grades one through eight.

In 1955, a new building was constructed. This new building housed grades one through eight, and it continued to be known as Northside Jr. High School. In 1966, two additional rooms were added to the building. Subsequent principals included L.S. Conn, Leroy Norwood, and Leroy Simuel.

In 1970, Northside was designated a primary school to serve grades one through three, with L. D. Walker as the principal. Walker retired from Northside in 1982, and James Spear became Northside’s principal. The school included grades kindergarten through third grade and had expanded to house 550 students.

Ruby Byrd was named the full-time lead teacher in 1987. The original building was completely renovated in 1987 and 1988. At this point, the school included kindergarten through fifth grade, and had an enrollment of 625 students. The school now included new administrative offices, a media center, thirty classrooms, and a multi-purpose building for physical education.

Both Mrs. Byrd and Mr. Spear left Northside in 1998. At that time, Barbara Louis was named principal, and Dana Ballou was named lead teacher/assistant principal.

 The building has continued to change over the years. Three additional classrooms were added to the main building in 2000. These classrooms housed the Art, Music, and Computer classrooms. The administrative offices and front lobby were renovated in 2002. The new area included the clerk/registrar’s office, the bookkeeper’s office, the principal’s and counselor’s office, as well as the school conference room.  The school will undergo a complete renovation beginning in the spring of 2016.

Dr. Thomas McCormack was named principal in 2003 and served in this capacity until February 2006. Dana Ballou was named Northside’s principal at that time, and Stan McMichael became the assistant principal in August of 2006. Mr. McMichael served the school until June 2008. Dr. Theodore Travis became the assistant principal in July 2008, and continues to serve in this capacity with Dr. Ballou as principal.

At this time, Northside Elementary School has 65 staff members and serves approximately 430 students in Pre-K through Fifth Grade.