Timeline
-
1806 - Didymus C. Kinney purchased land in the valley of 18-Mile Creek for the first school.
1830 - “The Red Schoolhouse” was erected on what is now called East Quaker Street.
1859 - The first brick school house was erected on the south side of West Quaker Street.
1866 - John Allen built a private boarding school known as the Academy.
1869 - Mr. Allen sold the Academy to the Quakers, who called it the East Hamburg Friends Institute.
1881 - The Academy’s main building was sold to the Town as the Union School. The Brick school was condemned.
1882 - The Academy building burned. School was held in the condemned brick school.
1885 - A new school was built on the Academy site. It had four classrooms.
1898 - The Board of Regents approved Orchard Park Central Schools for grades 7-12.
1904 - First Regents exams and diplomas - a milestone in New York State.
1914 - The new "Lincoln School" was erected for grades 1-12 at what is currently the site of the OP Boys & Girls Club. Student population was 300.
1921 - North wing built on the Lincoln School. A gymnasium and auditorium were added.
1936 - South wing added to the Lincoln building.
1944 - Five rural schools, Michael, Ellicott, Chestnut Ridge, Newton, and Milestrip Rd. became more centralized in the Orchard Park.
1948 - Districts across the state were centralized and Orchard Park was officially recognized as the Orchard Park Central School District.
1949 - New Junior-Senior High opens. It was a Model School and was featured twice in Seventeen Magazine. This was the site of the current Middle School.
1952 - South Davis Elementary was built.
1954 - Wing and swimming pool added to the Junior-High School (Now part of the Middle School).
1957 - Windom Elementary was built.
1960 - New Junior High was built. (Now part of the High School complex).
1965 - Eggert Elementary was built.
1968 - Ellicott Elementary was built.
1976 - Baker Elementary was built. Eventually it would house District Offices until 2013 when the Offices moved to 2240 Southwestern Blvd.
1976 - Junior High became the High School and the old Senior High became the Middle School.1992 - An additional wing is added to the Middle School and elementary schools.
1998 - The District celebrated a "Century of Excellence."
2011 - The Southwestern Boulevard property was purchased.
2013 - The District Offices and the Transportation Department moved to the Southwestern Boulevard property.
2016 - Ground was broken on the most recent capital project, which included renovations on the Middle School pool and auditorium.