Fairview Elementary School

HISTORY 

  Fairview Elementary school, one of the oldest schools around, being over 130 years old, was built in 1893 in the southwest corner of where it is now. Before the school was there the land was used for a limestone methodist church and resident homes. It was built in that area because the Bloomington school board decided to make a school for the kids in that neighborhood. In 1928 a brick addition was added to the school and continued to be part of the school when the original building got torn down. Back then, Fairview was a segregated school. It had another school for Black kids called the Benjamin Banneker School, which was later renamed the Fairview Annex. In 1951, Fairview started connecting with the Annex by moving integrated 6th-grade classes there to slowly desegregate. By 1954, Fairview Elementary School was no longer segregated. The old Annex building was then turned over to the city and became the Banneker Community Center 

 In 2010 the mid-century Fairview was knocked down and rebuilt into what it is now. Out of the old pieces of the school the students of Fairview made a piece of art on the southeast side of the school with a partnership from Joe LaMantia whose children went to Fairview. A student design was chosen and pieces of the old school building were used to make the sculpture. The Artisticat, Fairview students chose the name because it combines artist and cat, is on the Southeast side of the school and was painted with handprints after it was finished. If you look at it now you can see the lights from the old entry area as the eyes, the door from the old coal room as the nose, and the letters on the base from the front of the old building. The mouth is from the entrance to a fire escape slide. On the ground in front of the wildcat are two mosaic paw prints that were made by 6th graders in 2010 using the marble from old window sills. If you notice the words inside of the mouth they are called the Fairview Five. Those words are expectations of the students. These words are respect, responsibility, safety, care, and personal best. 

Another project from the old school building would be the chimney swift tower. The mid-century Fairview had a chimney that was used by hundreds of chimney swifts for roosting. Chimney Swifts are a certain type of bird that needs a place like a hollow tree or a chimney to roost so that they can circle around inside until landing. In 2009 neighbors raised concerns about the destruction of the old chimney as the new school was being built. Since it was not easy to save an old chimney a 32 foot high tower was built for the chimney swifts. Many people donated money, materials, and labor for the tower and the students that year created plaques to explain chimney swift biology. The total cost was about $20,000 but by mid-September of 2010 about 300 chimney swifts were roosting in the chimney swift tower.

ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY

  Fairview Elementary School, which serves grades Pre-K through 6th, plays many important roles in our community. It supports local families, serves as an artistic area in the west side, and it connects the neighborhood with Indiana University. To help families, Fairview provides unique resources like the Backpack Buddies program which sends bags of food home with students once a week. The School also hosts the Communities In Schools (CIS) program which connects families with housing, medical care, and jobs.

 Because Fairview is located in the Bloomington Entertainment & Arts District (BEAD), families don’t just use Fairview as a school but for community events, parent nights, and neighborhood gatherings . Local artists from groups like Constellation Stage, Screen, and BEAT work directly with students  to help them learn new things. Through a partnership with IU Jacobs School of Music, violin teachers give students lessons during the school day. Also every week College Mentors from IU see kids to help them see college as a real part of their future. 

Starting in 2023 Fairview became home to  ALPS (Accelerated Learning Program for Students) for students who need extra challenges in their schoolwork for 3rd graders to 6th graders. One unique thing about Fairview are its choice classes where starting in 3rd grade you get to choose a class with options like violin, show choir, drama, physical education, and Zimbabwean Marimba Music. Fairview Elementary School has five  main expectations for the students, to be respectful, responsible, safe, to have care, and to do your personal best. Middle Schools like Tri-North and Batchelor rely on Fairview to send them hard working students. Like many other schools Fairview Elementary School is helping to bring the next generation of adults in Bloomington and in other places around the world.