A. G. Gaston School
| A. G. Gaston School | |
| Active | 1965–2011 |
|---|---|
| School type | Public |
| District | Jefferson County (1965-1988), Birmingham (1988-2011) |
| Grades | 1-5 |
| Colors | |
| Mascot | |
| Location | 5400 Oakwood Street, (map) Birmingham |
A. G. Gaston K-8 School, originally Roosevelt-Cairo Junior High School, was a school in the Jefferson County Schools, and later Birmingham City Schools systems, located at 5400 Oakwood Street, in the Roosevelt-Cairo Village neighborhood of Birmingham's Brownville community.
The school was built by the county in 1965, two years before Roosevelt City was incorporated as a municipality.
Roosevelt-Cairo Negro Junior High School was a junior high school proposed as early as the 1950s by the Jefferson County Schools system to serve a growing population of Black students in its "Wenonah Cluster". It absorbed 7th through 9th-grade students in the "Wenonah Cluster" of Black school, including those entering from Wenonah Elementary School, Roosevelt Elementary School, Red Ore Elementary School, Muscoda School, Raimond School and Oxmoor School. The latter two of those would be shut down, with the elementary grades at Raimond going to Muscoda and those from Oxmoor going to Wenonah.
The land was purchased for the planned school in 1964. It was anticipated to open with 1,316 students and a faculty of 38.
The building, designed by Charles H. McCauley Associates, had 36 classrooms, a library, shop, cafeteria and administrative suite. In January 1965 the board approved a $500,000 budget for construction, but authorized associate superintendent Alton Crews to attempt to negotiate cost savings on the school's planned sewage plant in anticipation of the Jefferson County Sewer System enlarging its line along Valley Creek. A final bid of $508,600 was accepted from John Freeman in February 1965.
At some point, the school was renamed to honor African-American entrepreneur A. G. Gaston. Roosevelt City was annexed into the Birmingham in the late 1980s, and Birmingham City Schools took over operation of the school.
Under the school consolidation plan proposed by acting superintendent Barbara Allen and approved by the Board of Education, A. G. Gaston School closed in the summer of 2011, with students transferring to Wylam Elementary School and a newly-built Jones Valley K-8 School.
Principals
- Lorenza McCarthy, 1965–
- Tavis Hardin-Sloan, -2011
References
- Raines, Howell (March 26, 1965) "Many Pupils To Change To New Schools." Birmingham Post-Herald, p. 12
- "The List" (February 26, 2008) The Birmingham News