At Seattle's Cooper Elementary, a century of learning comes to an end

Librarian Sherry Murray has been at Cooper Elementary for 20 years, which might sound like a long time until you consider that it's barely one-fifth of the school's century-long existence.

As she sees co-workers packing up for the last time at the West Seattle school, she laments the loss of an institution whose cohesive atmosphere and consistent teaching corps prompted families to drop by years after their kids graduated, just to say hello.

"Kids always knew they could come visit," Murray said. "They knew where to find us."

In recent months, Cooper's sense of stability has been supplanted by resentment, sorrow and uncertainty. The school is one of five programs that the Seattle School District is eliminating to deal with ongoing budget woes, and many staffers, including Murray, still aren't sure where they'll be working in September.

The district's decision has made June, typically a time of conclusion and excitement about the summer break, a bittersweet occasion for those discontinued schools — a list that also includes Meany Middle, T. T. Minor Elementary, Summit K-12 and, perhaps most controversially, the African American Academy. As part of its cost cutting, the district is also moving eight other programs and closing several buildings.

At the African American Academy, today's Juneteenth celebration — open to the public — will commemorate the school's life and successes.

"I'm saddened," said James Kelly, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and a co-founder of the academy. "I hope it will be remembered as a school that tried, that took kids who weren't doing well in other schools and turned them around."

In his mind, the academy was always meant to be experimental and innovative — a "demonstration school" whose efforts others could replicate. "It was never permanent," Kelly said. "So in that regard, it served its purpose."

At Cooper's closing party earlier this month, the school's timeline stretched all the way across the gym. "It's been 103 years," said Principal Kathy Rutherford. "We have families here that are multigenerational."

Sprinkled amid that century's worth of history is the fact that Cooper was home to Thelma Dewitty, who in 1947 became the district's first African-American teacher and went on to serve as president of the NAACP's Seattle chapter.

Founded in 1906 to educate the children of steel-mill laborers, the school — originally called Youngstown, after the area just south of where the West Seattle Bridge now stands — moved a year later to another building at the base of Pigeon Hill, serving an ethnically diverse and working-class population.

John Hendron, a 1934 graduate, recalls descending a two-block hill of stairs to get to school, then going back home for lunch. "That's why I grew up strong and healthy," he said.

In 1939, the school was renamed Cooper, honoring a progressive district superintendent of the early 1900s.

Throughout its history, the school has catered to American newcomers. Originally it was Scandinavian, Slavic, Greek, Italian and Russian kids, while the last few decades have brought Filipino, Southeast Asian, Samoan and, finally, Somali immigrants.

Such demographics have posed challenges that Cooper had begun to meet in recent years, raising test scores and leaving supporters upset by the school's closure.

"It's frustrating and unjust," said Molly Gras-Usry, whose daughter is a second-grader at the school. "Students were thriving. A community had been built up with all these resources in place. Now that's being dismantled."

Vaunted school efforts, such as Cooper's baseball program and an environmental project that took advantage of the adjacent West Duwamish greenbelt, will come to an end.

Supporters say they will miss the school's familial atmosphere. "I hope it will be remembered as a strong community that really pulled together and worked hard to create a safe learning community for the students who go there," Gras-Usry said.

Marc Ramirez: 206-464-8102 or mramirez@seattletimes.com