In 1987, Barbara K. Adams, Library Media Center librarian, and John Troughton, Physical Education teacher, of Irene H. King Elementary School in Valley View Public Schools Community Unit District 365U, asked Eileen Ward, a retired teacher of the district to write down some of the history and her memories of teaching 48 years, her entire teaching career, in the district. The following are the result.
About the Author
Eileen Catherine Hanrahan Ward was born in Joliet, Illinois, on July 6, 1909. Her parents were the late Margaret and William Hanrahan. She and her family moved to the Lemont area when she was three years old. In 1921, they moved to a farm in Will County, Bluff Road, School District #96. She attended St. Patrick’s Grade School and Lemont Township High School. When her father died in 1932, she, her mother, and her brother, Pollard, moved to Lemont.
From 1932 until 1936, while living in Lemont, she traveled back and forth to teach at Sprague Rural School, using a 1930 Model A Ford. In 1936, she married Bernard Ward of DuPage Township and moved to a farm. This farm, where she and her family lived for 40 years, was located on what is now known as the I-55 Frontage Road, two miles west of the present Valley View building. After the death of her husband, she moved to Romeoville, where she resided until her own death.
Almost her entire life was spent in the Valley View School District area.
A View of the Valley, 1928-1988
by Mrs. Eileen Ward
Eileen Hanrahan, then age 19, now Mrs. Bernard Ward, went straight from Assisi Junior College, now the College of St. Francis, in Joliet, Illinois, to a teaching career in September 1928 at a one-room rural school then known as Taylor School. This school was located on Illinois 53, across from where Romeoville High School now stands. From 1929 to 1931, she attended summer school at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, and evening classes at Lewis College from 1954 to 1958. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a major in English from Lewis in 1958 and later completed graduate work at Northern Illinois and Loyola Universities. Her teaching career spanned 48 years, nearly five decades, all within the district now known as Valley View Public Schools Community Unit District 365U. She taught two generations of students and was close to teaching a third.
In the fall of 1927, while attending Assisi Junior College, Mrs. Ward passed the State Board Examination for Certification of Teachers. She received a Secondary Certificate valid for teaching in the public schools of Illinois for four years. However, she continued her studies at Assisi Junior College until June 1928, when she began her teaching career. In 1931, she was awarded a Limited State Elementary Certificate, valid for teaching and supervising in the 16 grades of any public school in Illinois for four years. This certificate required annual registration by the county superintendent of schools in the county where she was employed. In August 1961, she received a high-school certificate qualifying her to teach American Literature, Rhetoric, Composition, English Literature, European History, and Philosophy. She continues to register her certificates annually.
In addition to teaching and keeping records, Mrs. Ward performed various duties such as sweeping floors, starting the furnace, carrying out ashes, washing green chalkboards, cleaning erasers, and dusting. She earned $90 a month for nine months of work—a salary considered high compared to the $65 per month received by most rural school teachers in Will County at the time.
Despite the many additional responsibilities, the work of rural school teachers was not overly difficult. Students enjoyed attending school, and discipline issues were rare. Teachers were highly respected by the community and regarded as special figures.
Taylor School was considered the most modern rural school in Will County. Its exterior was constructed of red brick, while the interior featured oak woodwork, a built-in bookcase with glass doors, hardwood floors, green chalkboards, windows on one side of the classroom, a furnace room, separate cloakrooms for boys, girls, and the teacher, indoor plumbing, and electric lights. The desks were not nailed to the floor, which was a modern feature even by today’s standards.
In 1930, Eileen Hanrahan accepted a position in District 99, now District 365U, at Sprague Rural School, located at the northwest corner of Illinois 53 and Normantown Road. Here, she received $100 a month for nine months. In November 1936, she married the late Bernard J. Ward. She faced significant challenges in retaining her position, as married women were not permitted to teach in Will County schools. It wasn’t until World War II (1941–1945) that married women were employed as teachers due to a shortage of male teachers caused by the draft. Despite these challenges, the School Board, then called the Board of Directors, decided to renew her contract.
She and Bernard had two children, Bernadette and William, who both attended Sprague Rural School in the district. William and his wife, Brenda, live with their daughters, Christine and Susan, in the College View subdivision of Lockport, Illinois.
Christine and Susan were fourth-generation members of the Ward family to attend schools in this district. Christine attended Valley View Elementary School, and Susan attended Park View Elementary School during kindergarten. Both later attended St. Andrew’s School in Romeoville for their elementary and junior high education.
Eileen Ward continued teaching in the rural schools of the district until 1954, when the rural schools were closed, and students and teachers moved into the new graded school, Valley View School, located on Naperville Road, then known as Valley View School District 96.
As early as January 1939, the consolidation of small school districts began under the provisions of bills sponsored by the late Senator Richard J. Barr and pending before the state legislature. At that time, Will County had 66 districts out of a total of 182 in the county that had 10 pupils or fewer.
In 1953, Valley View Elementary School District 96 was formed by combining six one-room rural schools into a single consolidated district. While Valley View School was being constructed, students attended the six rural schools. Ken Hermansen served as principal and taught Grades 5, 6, 7, and 8 at Hillside School on Naperville Road. Dorothy Allen taught Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4 at Barbers Corner School, located across from where the Jewel in Bolingbrook now stands. Eileen Ward taught Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 at Sprague School on the corner of Illinois 53 and Normantown Road. Irene King taught Grades 1, 2, and 3 at Chapman School, located where the K-Mart in Bolingbrook later stood. Beatrice Heggerty taught Grades 5, 6, 7, and 8 at Taylor School on Illinois 53, across from the present Romeoville High School. Clarice Gehrke taught Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4 at Spangler Rural School, located at the corner of Taylor and Weber Roads.
In 1954, these rural schools were closed, and both teachers and students moved into the new Valley View School on Naperville Road.
A contest was held among the students of School District 96 to name the new school. Donna Chilvers, a sixth-grade student, submitted the winning name, Valley View School, for which she received a U.S. Savings Bond. The name was fitting, as the school was built on high ground overlooking the Des Plaines River and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. South of the Valley View School District lies the city of Joliet, named for the explorer Louis Joliet, who, along with Jesuit priest and explorer Father Marquette, sailed down the Des Plaines River.
The initial teacher assignments at the new school were as follows: Irene King, Grade 1; Dorothy Allen, Grade 2; Clarice Gehrke, Grade 3; Lillie Eneix, Grades 4 and 5; Kenneth Hermansen, Principal, teaching Grades 6, 7, and 8, Science, and Math; Eileen Ward, Grades 6, 7, and 8, teaching English, Girls’ P.E., and serving as Cheerleading Coach; Donald Binder, Grades 6, 7, and 8, teaching Social Studies, Boys’ P.E., and coaching basketball, baseball, and touch football; and Louise Nelson, teaching Music for Grades 1 through 8.
In June 1955, Donald Binder was drafted into the Army, and A.J. Nilles was hired as his replacement in September 1955. During the 1954–1955 school year, 89 students were enrolled.
The district’s first seven-member School Board was elected in 1954. The members were Joseph Brassal, Delbert Breitweiser, Howard Hassert, Fred Kling, Earl Meisinger, Harold Staffeldt, and Bernard J. Ward.
School District 96 remained stable until 1959, when rapid expansion began. The assessed valuation of the district increased to $555 million due to the construction of the Commonwealth Edison power plant in southeastern Romeoville.
In 1959 and the years that followed, the Alexander Construction Company purchased large farms in the area, including land owned by the late S.B. Thoresen, Alice Spangler, Hayes and John Alexander, Charles Hahn, Sr., and the late Belle Kennedy. The first two tracts purchased were named Hampton Park, and the entire area later became known as Romeoville. The land sold by Charles Hahn, Sr. became known as Honeytree. The Alexander Construction Company began building homes on the land immediately, sparking a population explosion.
The elementary school population increased by 260 percent to 542 students. National Homes were constructed at a rate of five or more per day. Many of the first residents moved from the South and Chicago. During the same time, farmland in the Bolingbrook area was being purchased by developers. In the mid-1960s, the population grew from 5,357 to 8,000, according to the 1970 census.
In 1959, when school enrollment doubled in a single year, voters approved the construction of a 23-room addition to Valley View School.
In 1962, Park View Elementary School, now known as Robert C. Hill Elementary School, opened in Romeoville at 616 Dalhart. An air-conditioned addition was added in 1964. In August 1977, the Board of Education renamed the school in honor of the late Robert C. Hill, the head maintenance man who had worked there for many years. Charles Oswalt served as the first principal. The current principal is William Jenkins, with associate principals Paula Bowling and Michele Romolt.
In 1963, construction began on North View School in Bolingbrook at 151 E. Briarcliff Road. Frank Kolinski was hired as the principal. During construction, Bolingbrook students who would attend North View were split between Park View (Grades 1–5) and Valley View (Grades 6–8), with Park View operating on half-day sessions. North View, the first school built in Bolingbrook, opened in spring 1964 as an eight-grade school. In 1989, North View celebrated its 25th anniversary. The current principal is William Zielke, with associate principal Lynda Taylor.
Dr. Irwin Widen was appointed principal of Valley View School, which housed Grades 6–8, while elementary students from Romeoville attended Park View School.
Romeoville High School was built in 1964, allowing high school students to attend locally instead of traveling to Lockport Township High School. Initially called Lockport West High School, it was renamed Romeoville High School on July 1, 1971. The current principal is David Carlson, with associate principal Ron Mander.
In 1965, all 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students in the district were moved to Valley View School, which operated as a junior high while West View Junior High was under construction. In September 1966, West View Junior High School opened at 590 Belmont Drive, with Frank Kolinski as principal and John Lukancic as assistant principal. The building, covering 3.5 acres, features a circular cafetorium at its center, with “pods” branching out in four directions. The gym includes hardwood floors, large bleachers, and shatter-proof glass backboards. A Little Theater was built adjacent to the Band Room, and other areas such as classrooms, offices, and a library branch off the cafetorium. Uniquely, the school has no windows except in the front offices. In 1977, Nick Friend became principal, and William Dragovan was assistant principal. Sharon Sheltes replaced Dragovan as associate principal upon his retirement in 1988.
During her teaching career, Mrs. Ward taught all subjects to all grades but especially enjoyed teaching English and Spelling. She spent significant time teaching her students spelling rules and coached them for spelling contests, where many won District and Will County titles. In 1982, middle school team leaders and principals voted to name the annual spelling contest the Eileen Catherine Ward Spelling Contest in her honor.
In 1988–1989, West View School was recognized as one of the best middle schools in Illinois. Two eighth-graders, Chris Sedlack and Bill Harenburg, earned first- and fourth-place finishes, respectively, in the Will County Spelling Contest at Oster Oak View School in New Lenox.
In 1969, Brook View Elementary School opened in Bolingbrook at 520 Gary Drive, with Paul J. Mikulcik as principal and Karen Udell as associate principal. That same year, Ridge View Elementary School opened at 301 Eaton Avenue in Romeoville, with Lillie Eneix as its first principal. The school was renamed Irene H. King School in 1978 to honor a teacher with 26 years of service in the district. Mrs. King attended the dedication ceremony in spring 1979.
In 1968, the Illinois Legislature made kindergarten compulsory in all public school districts starting in the 1970 school year. The expected kindergarten enrollment of 1,320 required double sessions, adding 660 pupil stations. The Valley View School District needed approximately 20 kindergarten classes to meet this demand, alongside the rapid annual growth of 600 new students across all eight elementary grades. This legislative mandate required the district to make critical decisions to address its growing population and facilities needs.
School Board members, school administrators, community businessmen, teachers, and parents recognized the tremendous problems that the increasing enrollment presented.
The Valley View 45-15 Continuous School Year Plan was developed as the best logical solution to the lack of classrooms. J. Patrick Page, Valley View Schools’ director of research at the time the district adopted the year-round school plan, developed a 34-foot-long 45-15 calendar to demonstrate the workings of the year-round school to parent groups and to the Superintendent of Public Instruction officials in Springfield.
All pupils were divided into four groups by neighborhoods. All children in the same family were on the same schedule, unless the parents requested otherwise. Each group attended school for 45 class days and then had a 15-class-day vacation. The attendance schedules for the groups were spaced 15 class days apart so that only three of the four groups were in school at the same time. The groups were divided into tracks A, B, C, and D.
Four 45-class-day sessions per year provided at least 180 class days per year for each pupil.
All Illinois legal holidays were school-closing days. All pupils were out of school at the same time for a vacation at Christmas, at Easter, and at the Fourth of July. During these standard traditional vacations, the school custodians did their major maintenance and cleaning work within the classrooms.
All families had a 15-class-day vacation (which varied from 23 to 27 calendar days) in each of the four seasons of each year. However, just as the starting time for the 45 class days was on a staggered basis, so too were the vacation times staggered.
Teachers liked the 45-15 plan. They had the option of working for 180 days a year, either rotating class days and vacation as their pupils did, or they could work as many as 238 days. Teachers were paid according to how many days per school year they worked. Individual teachers’ salaries increased with more working days. In the spring of 1970, Eileen Ward, a senior teacher in the Valley View District, was one of the teachers who was given a 274-day contract for 1970-1971, the first year of the 45-15 continuous school year. The contracts in the following years of the 45-15 plan were offered with a maximum of 238 days. In June 1976, Mrs. Ward retired from full-time teaching; however, during the summer months of 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979, Mrs. Ward worked as a substitute teacher in the English department at West View Junior High for the late Robert Bockholdt, who preferred to have a three-month summer vacation. From 1979 until 1984, Mrs. Ward was a substitute teacher at West View. Figure 2 is a copy of a 1970-71 teachers’ contract offered to Mrs. Ward. Figure 3 is a 1970-71 teachers’ contract calendar. Figure 4 is a 1970-71 teachers’ salary schedule. Figure 5 is a 1970-71 teachers’ contract from the Business Office.
During the school year 1971-72, the name of the district was changed from Valley View District 96 to Valley View District 365U since the schools were in use every day during the year.
In 1972, Oak View Elementary School was opened at 150 N. Schmidt Road in Bolingbrook. The plan of the school was a school without walls. The administrators felt that the educational program at Oak View would be innovative. On January 1, 1980, a fire of unknown origin destroyed most of Oak View School. While the school was being rebuilt, the students from Oak View School attended North View School and R.C. Hill School. Oak View School reopened in September 1981 as a more traditional school, with walls erected to separate the classrooms. The principal is Gary Woolwine, and the associate principal is Linda Stockwell.
In 1973, after 20 years as superintendent of Valley View District, Kenneth Hermansen decided to step down and accept a position as personnel director at the Administration Center. A few years later, he accepted a position as a social studies teacher at Romeoville High School. In 1983, he retired after spending 34 years in education, 30 of those years in the Valley View schools. Mr. William Rutter, who had been assistant superintendent, was named to the position of superintendent of the Valley View School District 365U in 1973. He retired in 1983, and Harry J. Hayes, Ph.D., the present superintendent of the Valley View School District, was named to that position.
In 1974, Bolingbrook High School, located at 350 West Blair Lane, was opened. Romeoville High School could no longer handle the increasing numbers of high school students in the district. The principal was Everette Green, and the associate principals were Kenneth Sorrick and Steve Thomas.
In 1974, Wood View Elementary School, located at 197 Winston Drive in Bolingbrook, was opened. The principal was Dorothy Senese, and the associate principal was Carole Sinicki. In 1988, this school was honored as one of the finest elementary schools in the nation.
In the spring of 1974, the members of the School Board decided to build a junior high school in Bolingbrook. The members voted to name the school for one of the original board members, Bernard J. Ward, a lifelong resident of the district who died suddenly in 1967 while serving on the Board. While this school was under construction, all the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders of the district attended West View on a half-day session. The students from Romeoville attended school in the morning session, and the students from Bolingbrook attended school in the afternoon session.
In September 1975, B. J. Ward Junior High School, located at 200 Recreation Drive in Bolingbrook, was opened for 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students from Bolingbrook.
The two-million-dollar-plus school was designed in a Spanish style with red brick and archways. Many unique areas were designed into the school, including a sunken reading area in the Library Media Center. Darrell G. Helm was the first principal of the school. The Ward School is the only school in the district to have a cornerstone, donated by the Wunderlich Granite Company of Joliet. The cornerstone is made of red granite, and a time capsule was placed inside it in 1975. The time capsule, containing remembrances of the Ward family, is expected to be opened in the year 2075. The principal at the present time is Ronald Krause, and the associate principal is Glenna Adams.
In 1976, the Jane Addams Junior High School, located at 905 Lily Cache Lane in Bolingbrook, was opened. Ken Kalina was the first principal. He retired in 1988, and the current principal is Dr. Otha Lang. The associate principal is Kathleen Kouba.
In 1976, Independence Elementary School, located at 230 Orchard Drive in Bolingbrook, was opened. The principal was Edward Carli, and the associate principal was Jay Sommerfield.
In 1977, Jonas Salk Elementary School, located at 500 King Arthur Way in Bolingbrook, was opened. The principal was Margo Sorrick, and the associate principal was Michael Gervase.
During the 1977-78 school year, the Valley View School District 365U Board of Education elected to address the needs of students in the intermediate grades (six through eight). A comprehensive organizational plan, featuring a transition from the existing junior high school to a middle school program, was adopted. The middle school plan was put into operation in July 1978. West View would once again house seventh and eighth graders, as well as sixth graders, as it had in 1966 when the building first opened.
In 1978, Hubert H. Humphrey Middle School was opened. The school is located at 777 Falcon Ridge Way in Bolingbrook. The principal was Gary Catalani, and the associate principal was Kimberly Jagiello.
The last school to be built, Jamie McGee Elementary School, was opened in September 1980. The school is located at 179 Commonwealth Drive in Bolingbrook. It was named for a teacher and math consultant in the district.
Mr. McGee began his elementary teaching career in Valley View School in September 1964. He taught math there and also at West View. Later, he was named math consultant for the district, with his office at the Administration Center. He passed away in 1979 while employed by the district.
During the 1988-1989 school year, the principal, Michael Silver, took a leave of absence, and associate principal Michael Zolecki was named interim principal of Jamie McGee Elementary School.
In September 1980, the Valley View School District 365U returned to the traditional 9-month school year, because of declining enrollment. In the spring of 1989, the School Board was considering closing two schools by the year 1990 due to continuing enrollment decline.
The first Administration Center for the Valley View School District 96 was located at 104 McKool Street in Romeoville. It was nicknamed Kool View. Later it was moved to the Brook View Annex in Bolingbrook. In 1975, the Administration Center was moved to the lower level of the Romeoville Fountaindale Library.
In January, 1983, Superintendent Rutter recommended to the Board of Education that the Valley View Elementary School, the original school in the Valley View District, be closed. The school board tabled the suggestion. Valley View School, located at 755 Luther Drive, Romeoville, was then one of the district’s smaller schools in terms of enrollment, with about 300 students. Because of this low enrollment, closing the school was considered. With one-third of the school building being rented to Joliet Junior College, the district could house 600 students at Valley View. The school was being run at half its capacity. Combined student enrollment in kindergarten through fifth grade in the three Valley View District elementary schools south of Interstate 55 had declined for several years. All indications pointed to enrollment either remaining at the same level or continuing to decline. There was no reason to believe the trends would change. The recommendation to close the school was based on both educational and economic grounds. The closing would save the district $110,000 a year. Of that, $81,000 would come in savings on personnel costs. The personnel cuts would be in non-teaching and basically administrative positions. Some $20,000 would be saved in utility costs and $7,000 in transportation costs.
Closing the school would not mean student numbers per classroom would be any higher than anywhere else in the district. Educational quality would be consistent and some program advantages for the youngsters could be realized. Students from south of I-55 would attend Robert C. Hill Elementary School and Irene H. King Elementary School, instead of using three buildings.
Later in the year, the School Board approved the closing of Valley View Elementary School and the Administration Center was moved from the Fountaindale Library to the Valley View School which also continued to house classes for the Joliet Junior College.
What happened to the teachers who were the pioneers and were the first teachers at Valley View School District 96 now District 365U?
Irene King retired in 1975, moved to Tampa, Florida and died in 1981; Dorothy Allen and Louise Nelson retired in 1972. Dorothy, who lived on Caton Farm Road, Joliet, died in 1983. Louise is living in Lockport. Clarice Gehrke, who lived in Plainfield, retired in 1967 and died in 1987; Lillie Eneix retired in 1977 and is living in Texas; Eileen Ward retired in 1976 and is living in Romeoville; Ken Hermansen, teacher, principal and superintendent, retired in 1983 and is also living in Romeoville; A. J. Nilles, who retired in June, 1988, is living in Lockport.
From 1954 until 1980, a span of 26 years, 16 schools were built in the Valley View District. Ten of the schools are elementary schools, four are middle schools and two are high schools. The size of the district is 39.5 square miles. During those 26 years, the number of certified teachers grew from 7 to 812 full-time employees and 88 part-time employees. The number of non-certified employees grew from 3 to 265 employees and 135 part-time employees. The total district enrollment grew from 89 in 1953 to 12,502 in all grades in 1988.
Valley View School District Schools 1954-1980
- Valley View Elementary School – 1954
- Park View Elementary School (R. C. Hill Elementary School?) – 1962
- North View Elementary School – 1964
- Lockport West High School – 1964
- Romeoville High School – 1971
- West View Junior High School – 1966
- Brook View Elementary School – 1969
- Ridge View Elementary School (Irene H. King) – 1969
- Oak View Elementary School – 1972 and 1981
- Bolingbrook High School – 1974
- Wood View Elementary School – 1974
- Bernard J. Ward Junior High School – 1975
- Jane Addams Junior High School – 1976
- Independence Elementary School – 1976
- Jonas Salk Elementary School – 1977
- Hubert H, Humphrey Middle School – 1978
- Jamie McGee Elementary School – 1980
Valley View District Rural School Records
The Fountaindale Public Library of Bolingbrook, Illinois has digitized school records, accessible online. You can view them online for free at Access Genealogy.