Tuggle Elementary School

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Tuggle Elementary School
Couch-Tuggle Elementary.JPG
BCS small logo.png Birmingham City Schools
Years 1934–present
Location 412 12th Court North, (map)
Enon Ridge
Grades K-5
Principal Ann Marie Eskridge
Enrollment 500 (2018)
Colors blue & gold
Mascot Tigers
Website bhamcityschools.org

Carrie A. Tuggle Elementary School (formerly Enon Ridge School) is a public K-5 elementary school located at 412 12th Court North in the Enon Ridge neighborhood and part of the Birmingham City Schools system.

It was named in honor of the former Tuggle Institute, a privately funded school and orphanage founded by social worker Carrie Tuggle in 1903. Tuggle died in 1924 and was buried at the school's grounds. The Institute forged a partnership with Birmingham City Schools in 1926, but was forced to close in 1933.

William McAlpine's Alabama State Federation of Colored Civic Leagues founded the Tuggle Hill Redemption Corporation to support efforts to preserve Tuggle's legacy and reuse the property for the benefit of Black children. The group worked with the Birmingham Board of Education and the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board to acquire the 15-acre site and its 13 structures. A ceremony celebrating the purchase of the property was held on Saturday October 31, 1936. Governor Bibb Graves was the featured speaker, taking the podium after an afternoon barbecue with music from a 100-voice choir directed by Harold McCoo. Other speakers included Erskine Ramsay, C. B. Glenn, and Harry Denman, who introduced the institute's white board of trustees. Proceeds from the barbecue went toward a fund for renovations.

The proposed partnership included a new public school for Black children, originally called the Enon Ridge School but soon renamed in Tuggle's honor. Meanwhile the Federation of Colored Civic Leagues would use part of the property to train Black children as domestic servants.

Tuggle Elementary School in 2010

The school was rebuilt as a new, modern elementary school in 1952. Vandals caused hundreds of dollars of damage to the school property on August 24, 1955. Major additions were made to the school in 1957 and 1961. The latter project, designed by Warren Knight & Davis, added 7 classrooms, a new heating plant, storage rooms and restrooms. The work was done by Atchison & Atchison at a cost of $125,000.

In 2007 Tuggle Elementary was placed on a list of schools facing possible closure in light of the system's declining student enrollment and shaky finances. It did not appear on a revised list distributed in January 2008. In 2009 the Board considered a plan to merge Tuggle Elementary with Hill Elementary School, constructing a new building on the site of the former Lincoln Middle School.

Board member Emanuel Ford argued persuasively in favor of locating the new school on the Enon Ridge site where Tuggle's memorial remains. Ground was broken for the new Tuggle Elementary School, designed by Clay Dorsey of Dorsey Architects, on November 14, 2010. The $13 million, 75,000 square foot school includes 26 classrooms, a 300-seat gymnasium, cafeteria, library, and special art, music and computer rooms. Short towers over the front entrance and library are designed to recall the original Tuggle Institute. The new building opened on August 19, 2013.

Principals

Notable alumni

References

External links

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