These Walls: Harding Junior High School in OKC

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jun 16, 2008 by Kelley Chambers

The Harding Junior High School Building has been a place of education in Oklahoma City since the 1920s - as both a high school and middle school - and is now a college preparatory high school.

Harding was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

The National Register nomination form shows the school was built in a "Collegiate Gothic" style and named for President Warren G. Harding. The original building was constructed in 1924 and was added to in 1926, 1930, 1940, 1954, and again in 1957.

Those additions took the building from an original 125,321 square feet to 175,539 when all of the additions were completed.

In 1916 the Oklahoma City Board of Education first proposed a bond issue to establish junior high schools. That bond failed, but in 1919 $1 million was spent to build three junior high schools that opened in 1920.

As those schools began to fill up, more junior high schools were built around the city.

According to the nomination form, in 1921 there were 20,700 school-age children in Oklahoma City.

That number was up 3,000 students from the previous year.

By 2003 a school census reported 26,202 school-aged children in Oklahoma City.

Harding opened on Sept. 8, 1924.

Harding has a poured concrete structure, a brick exterior and an internal courtyard.

The construction of the school is attributed to the rapid growth of Oklahoma City in the early part of the 20th century and into the 1920s when the city began growing to the north.

The school was designed by famed architect Solomon A. Layton, and his firm Layton, Smith & Forsyth, and was built by A.F. Stewart Construction Co., as seen on a limestone plaque on the building.

Despite changes and additions made over the years, the National Historic Register nomination form states the original portion of the building is intact.

The school is one of the largest and most prominent features of the Central Park neighborhood. The nomination form shows that by 1924 Central Park was an established and quickly growing neighborhood, which in turn necessitated more schools.

Over the years Harding functioned as a junior and senior high school.

Richard Caram, current principal of Harding Charter Preparatory High School, said the school ceased being a middle school in May 2003.

At that time the Families for Excellence in Education leased the building from the Oklahoma City Public Schools and founded the charter high school with a focus on advanced placement classes.

Since Harding became a charter school, numerous improvements have been completed on the building.

Among those, outdated science labs were brought up to OSHA requirements and the HVAC and electrical systems were updated.

Caram said further projects will improve and update classrooms.

Harding currently takes students in ninth through 12th grades. Caram said when school resumes this fall, the school anticipates enrollment at about 410 with 30 faculty members.