| Additional Information: | As the village of Whitefish Bay grew in the early twentieth century, the need for additional schools became eminent. Planning efficiently for the future, the school district hired professional consultants to complete a growth survey in the mid-1920s. Their findings projected the maximum population of the village to be 20,214. They estimated that to serve a projected maximum enrollment of 3,300 students, two more elementary schools would eventually be required in addition to the existing Henry Clay School. It had also been decided to continue housing the sixth through eighth grades in neighborhood elementary schools rather than constructing a single central middle school which would cause some students to have to walk longer distances or take public transportation.
In 1927, the first of these two new schools to be built was Humboldt School, constructed for approximately $187,000 on 11.5 acres on Humboldt Avenue purchased from the Praefke family farm. It served the southern portion of the village. Both Humboldt and Richards Schools were built using the same plan, constructed of concrete, and faced with brick and Bedford stone. Both schools were designed as three units: the original central unit with a wing on each side to be constructed as the need for more classrooms arose. In 1932 due to confusion with Humboldt School in Milwaukee, also on what was then Humboldt Avenue, the school changed its name to Cumberland School, after the Cumberland Forest neighborhood in which the school is located. The name was chosen by a school-wide vote among four names submitted by students.
The first wing added onto Cumberland School in 1938 was for six additional classrooms, new administrative offices, music rooms, a library, a basement cafeteria and kitchen, and a 150-seat theater. It was partially funded by the federal WPA program. Further additions were constructed to the school to accommodate the baby boomers in 1951 for eight classrooms and a new gymnasium and again in 1958 for a combination gymnasium and auditorium. In 1989, the school district reorganized, at which time Cumberland School’s sixth through eighth grades were moved to the new Whitefish Bay Middle School, located in the former Henry Clay School. Since this time, Cumberland School has served kindergarten through fifth grade. In 2010, construction began on a new cafeteria wing.
2018: No visible changes. |
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