Lincoln IB World Middle School

Lincoln IB World Middle School, is the longest running middle years school in Fort Collins, Colorado. Originally called Fort Collins Junior High School, it was renamed Lincoln Junior High School in 1939 ^[1] and became Lincoln Middle School in 2009.^[2] Alumni of note include former Fort Collins mayor, Ray Martinez, Colorado state legislator, Randy Fischer, and nationally known artist, DeWain Valentine.^[3]

The school is part of the Poudre School District and serves a culturally and socioeconomically diverse set of students in the northern Fort Collins area.

History

The original school building, c. 1910

The first school in Fort Collins was a one-room school house located in Auntie Stone's cabin from 1866-1887.^[4] In 1887, the Franklin building was completed at the corner of Mountain and Howes and the students all moved to the new facility. The Fort Collins High School occupied the top floor of the Franklin building, and the lower grades, 1st-8th, met together in the bottom of the building.^[5] In 1903, the high school and several of the grade level classes were moved to a new location on Meldrum street where the current Lincoln Center now stands. Through this period of time, the middle grades were grouped together with the lower grades and simply called the grade school. By 1920, Wellington and Waverly both had junior high schools.^[6] But it wasn't until 1922 that Fort Collins rearranged the grades in order to have a junior high.^[7] In the beginning, the junior high only consisted of eighth grade, with most of the students located within the Fort Collins High School building. In 1925, the high school moved to a new location, 1400 Remington Street (now used for the arts at CSU), and the junior high took over the building. A memorial to the old school building, written at the time of its demolition in the mid-1970s, states that the Fort Collins Junior High was departmentalized in 1928.^[8]

In 1939, the name of the school was changed from Fort Collins Junior High to Lincoln Junior High.^[9] In 1975, Lincoln Junior High moved from Old Town to its current location at 1600 Lancer Drive.^[10] Forty seven acres of the property was donated to the Poudre School District by Elliott Heidekoper for a park at the school.^[11]

Facility and Technology Use

Lincoln's current facility is located on a secluded 50-acre (200,000 m²) site. The current building was built in 1974. A $1.2 million addition and technology upgrade were completed in 1995. An additional gym and classrooms were added in 2001 through a partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Larimer County.

The middle school is divided into three smaller grade level “pods.” Each pod or wing consists of its own grade level that houses students, lockers, classrooms and teachers. Shared space includes visual and performing arts classrooms, computer labs, and a technology/robotics classroom. Teachers utilize resources such as smartboards, clickers, and netbooks to teach.

Conversation Cafe

Lincoln's 8th graders have hosted a yearly Conversation Cafe since 2010. Topics have included the proposed Glade Reservoir Project^[12] (2010), the proposed Centennial Uranium Mine project^[13] (2011), fracking in Colorado^[14] (2012), and climate change (2013). Former eighth grade science teacher, Sarah Bayer, has been nationally recognized for her work in connecting students with local issues in the conversation cafe format.^[15]

References

External links

• Lincoln IB School's Website