Week 4: School buildings offer history lessons

Standing Bear Elementary, 15860 Taylor St., is part of the Omaha Public Schools. The facility opened in August 2005 and is named for Ponca Chief Standing Bear.

At the time Standing Bear was born, the Ponca tribe was settled in an area around the mouth of the Niobrara River. In the Treaty of 1868, the government included Ponca land in the territory assigned to the Sioux and moved the Poncas to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Standing Bear and 30 others tried to return to their Niobrara home but were arrested. Gen. George Crook detained Standing Bear and the others at Fort Omaha.

Standing Bear petitioned the court to determine whether an Indian had the rights of freedom guaranteed by the Constitution. On April 30, 1879, Judge Elmer Dundy ruled in Standing Bear's favor. A government commission arranged for the return of land along the Niobrara River to the Ponca tribe; Standing Bear lived and farmed at his old home on the Niobrara. He died in 1908.

Mascot: Bear Cub

Colors: Blue and gold

Of note: Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, author of “The Trial of Standing Bear,” visited the school last school year. He spoke about the school's namesake and signed a copy of the book for each student.

Sherman Elementary School, 5618 N. 14th Ave., is named for Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, a general from the Civil War who was a frequent Omaha visitor.

His trips here were to help protect the railroads. Sometime late in the 19th century, Sherman Avenue was the name of the roadway now called 16th Street. The school was built near Sherman Avenue and took the same name. The property that includes Sherman Elementary was annexed by Omaha in 1887. It is part of the Omaha Public Schools.

The first Sherman School, built in 1888 at 16th and Jaynes Streets, opened with 21 students. This frame building stood until 1955. Two-room buildings were added in 1891, 1894 and 1914; all opened onto a common courtyard. In 1927, additional lots were purchased, and a brick building was erected. This building still functions as the middle section of the Sherman Elementary building. In 1948 the Beechwood School District was incorporated into Sherman School.

In 1953 the Omaha School Board approved construction of two brick additions. This project added seven classrooms and a library to the north side, and a gym and cafeteria to the south side of the original building. At the same time, the Beechwood building was moved to Sherman to help accommodate the student body. The frame buildings, including the original 1888 structure, were auctioned off.

In 1995, Sherman became one of the first OPS buildings to receive Title I financial aid for its whole school. Sherman now has 275 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.

Mascot: Shark

Colors: Blue and gold

Of note: Six generations of one family have attended Sherman.

Disney Elementary School, 4717 S. 112th St., is in the Millard Public Schools.

The Millard Board of Education assigns school names, with elementaries usually being named for a deceased famous Nebraskan or for the subdivision in which the school is located. But the name Walt Disney did not fit either of those categories. In 1974, the year the school was built, a child submitted a request that the school be named for the creator of Mickey Mouse and the whole Disney entertainment empire. Disney had died in 1966.

The child said that Disney had done a lot to educate and entertain young people and naming a school after him would be most appropriate. The school board agreed and made a request to the Disney Corp. for permission to use Disney's name.

Mascot: Dolphin

Colors: Light blue and white

Of note: The school offers Disney Parent University monthly or bimonthly. The Millard Schools Foundation provides funding for the program. This school year's offerings include Love and Logic Training, a parent financial workshop and, in February, “One Book, One Disney.” The latter will include family activities keyed to the Greg Mortenson best-seller “Three Cups of Tea.”

Bancroft Elementary, 2724 Riverview Blvd., serves about 600 students in the Omaha Public Schools.

Five schools were merged in 1988 to create Bancroft, a neighborhood school for kindergarten through sixth grade. Some of the kindergartners attend class at the Henry Doorly Zoo's dairy building; the nearby zoo is the school's Adopt-a-School partner.

Mascot: Broncos

Colors: Red and black

Of note: Because of Bancroft's partnership with the zoo, the school houses a mini-zoo. There are a large aviary, four tortoises and a 2-foot-long iguana named Rex. Bancroft pupils are going to vote on a name for the iguana, using Rex as its surname.

Wake Robin Elementary, 700 Lincoln Road in Bellevue, is named for the cabin that was the home of Robert Gilder, an archaeologist who did extensive study of the area that is Fontenelle Forest.

Gilder started as an amateur archaeologist while employed by The World-Herald. He became interested in earth depressions found on the hills bordering the Missouri River both in Bellevue and areas north of Omaha. He began his digging in the area of Fontenelle Forest. He found Native American artifacts that have been dated from about the year 950 to 1450. He was important in identifying this early Bellevue society, which is now called the Nebraska Culture or the Nebraska Phase People.

In 1963, as the Bellevue Public Schools planned to build four elementary schools, a member of the school board proposed that the school to be built nearest the Gilder cabin be named Wake Robin Elementary. The motion carried, and today the school honors flowers, birds, nature and Dr. Gilder.

Mascot: Wizards

Colors: Blue and gold

Of note: Gilder also was an accomplished artist, and one of his paintings is on permanent display at the Joslyn Art Museum. His grave marker in the historic Bellevue Cemetery states: Archaeologist Artist Friend

Longfellow Elementary School, 2011 S. 10th St. in Council Bluffs, is named for U.S. poet and educator Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who espoused education and the betterment of children.

The current building was constructed in 1939. It replaced the 20th Avenue School, which had served the south end of Council Bluffs for 56 years.

In 1939, Longfellow served kindergarten through eighth grade. In 1957, with the addition of a gymnasium, it became a junior high serving kindergarten through ninth grade for the Council Bluffs Community School District. In 1985, the district consolidated its five junior highs into two and Longfellow once again became an elementary school.

Mascot: Lion

Colors: Gold and royal blue

Of note: Longfellow is the only elementary school in the district with separate auditorium, gymnasium and cafeteria spaces. Construction will start in November to add classrooms, enlarge the cafeteria and expand the library technology area.

— Compiled by Sue Story Truax and the World-Herald News Service from information provided by the Omaha, Millard, Bellevue and Council Bluffs school districts.