WESD History & Leadership

History

Our First School: Washington School

Washington School was the first school in the Washington Elementary School District. The District was organized by 13 farm families in 1891. Our first teacher was Miss Rhoda McEwan, who was employed for a six-month term at $65 per month!

The first board meeting was held August 8, 1891. On the agenda, notifying the public of a special election for a special tax of $500 to build and furnish for the first school house.

In 1912, a new school building was constructed with three classrooms and a basement for storage. With three teachers instead of one, a Miss Durand became Washington's first principal.

A School Becomes a District

Cotton covered most of the WESD in the early 1900s and the first student got to school on foot, horseback, or buggy. In the 1910s, there was significant growth in the District due to the completion of the Roosevelt Dam and Arizona being admitted to the Union as a state.

In the 1940s air conditioning was a key reason for rapid growth in the Valley and WESD. In 1941, the District's 50th Anniversary, the average daily attendance was 540 students! At this point WESD was still a one-school district. Sunnyslope, WESD's second school, opened for the 1949-50 school year.

Between 1952 and 1985, WESD built and opened 31 new schools! Many of these are still the schools that serve our community today.

Present Day

Today, WESD is the largest elementary school district in Arizona, comprised of 32 schools (18 K-6 schools, two K-5 schools, seven K-8 schools and five middle/junior high schools). We have come a long way from the one-school district, where we began.

Leadership

Superintendent:

Dr. Paul Stanton

Governing Board Members:

President- Jenni Abbott-Bayardi

Vice President- Kyle Clayton

Members:

Lindsey Peterson

Tamillia Valenzuela

Nikkie Whaley

Vision, Mission & Values

🌟Vision

The Washington Elementary School District is committed to achieving excellence for every child, every day, every opportunity.

🌟Mission

The mission of the Washington Elementary School District is student achievement, preparing all students to become responsible, successful contributors to our diverse society.

🌟Values

Achievement, respect, integrity and responsibility form the foundation of our strong partnership among students, parents, community, and staff, united by a passion for learning. We define excellence by the values we hold.

We value open and honest communication.
We value the health, safety, and welfare of our students, parents, community and staff.
We value parents as children's first and best teachers.
We value providing equal educational opportunities for all students to achieve physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially.
We value teaching and learning that integrate academics, fine arts, health, physical fitness and extra-curricular activities in a technologically enriched environment.
We value teachers who teach by example, principals who lead by example, and support staff who serve by example.
We value dedicated educators who mentor others to develop successful professional learning communities.
We value professional development that directly impacts student achievement.
We value schools that are student-friendly, parent-friendly and community-friendly.
We value building relationships between each school and the community it serves.
We value the commitment and contributions of all members of our diverse school community - students, parents, community and staff.
We value our community, which entrusts us to responsibly manage the fiscal resources of the District.

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