VaNetta Clark remembers the atmosphere inside the Scullin School as electrifying.
“We’ve had individuals describe what their experience was like coming into the space,” Clark said. “It was so enlivening. It just felt like you were getting a really big hug.”
Clark is pursuing her PhD at Washington University in St. Louis in education policy. As a part of her research, she reconnected with some of her old teachers from Scullin.
She was surprised to find that they had saved hundreds of items from the school, including newspaper clippings highlighting staff accomplishments, and a student’s desk that still has his name carved into the top.
These artifacts are now on display in an exhibit at the John M. Olin Library at WashU through Feb. 1.
“The teachers were severely impacted by the sudden closure because you’re talking about a community of people that were together for more than 20 years,” Clark said.
She attended the elementary school in the early 1990s and said the teachers at Scullin had a lasting impact on her life.
Clark described herself as a student who was headed in the wrong direction, but her fourth-grade teacher, Magnolia Bush-Tabb, encouraged her to “dream differently.”
She points to a photo of herself as a student with her teachers in one of the glass cases. It was taken during a visit to Washington, D.C., where the school was honored by the White House and the U.S. Department of Education for its drug prevention program.
“So the Washington D.C. experience is what really changed the trajectory of my life. It was a result of a teacher seeing the leadership [in me] and took her expertise to change that into a positive.”
The Scullin School was shut down by St. Louis Public Schools in 2003 during a contentious round of closures, due in part to dwindling enrollment and financial challenges. The building is located on Kingshighway Boulevard in the Penrose neighborhood.
The building sits in a blighted state, with broken windows and graffiti scrawled above its main entrance.
Like many of the district’s surplus properties, the Scullin School has sat vacant for over two decades.
Clark said that former teacher Conchita Curry told her that the teachers were given 48 hours to clear out their belongings from the school, or they would be discarded.
Curry, who lived in the Penrose neighborhood, hurried to the school to gather what she could. Those bits of history, like textbooks, blue ribbon awards and teacher paystubs, help keep the school’s story alive.
“It’s [all] preserved in pristine condition, and it shows the value that they placed on education,” Clark said.
She said she was struck by the pioneering spirit of Scullin’s teachers, who often sought outside learning opportunities and brought them to their students. Photos in the exhibit show the different field trips and partnerships, including one with NASA, that helped broaden the students’ learning experiences.
She hopes that people who view the exhibit, especially teachers, take inspiration from the educators who came before them.
“I think when teachers recognize who they are to the student and how they can impact the student’s life, then you have this determination to be the best teacher that you can be.”
Clark said she hopes to take the exhibit on the road to share the Scullin School’s legacy with schools across the country.
