The history of the Abbotsford School District

The beginning of the public school system in Abbotsford goes back to 1873 when the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company extended its line into what is now Abbotsford and a few settlers formed a community. School was first held in a small room on Main Street in the year 1879 or 1880. Rapid growth of the community made it essential that larger and more permanent facilities for conducting school be provided.

In 1885, a two-story frame building was erected on the site of the new addition to the present elementary school. The school at this time was not a “graded school” and children were promoted or retained by a system of “readers.” The annual report of 1889 by the Clark County Superintendent of Schools, R.J. Sawyer, states that “Abbotsford was preparing to form a graded school.”

In 1889, a two-room addition gave the village a four-room school which was considered to be adequate for many years. However, over time, more room was needed. Rental of a room in the Kalb Building solved the problem temporarily. The primary grades were housed in this room until 1900, when a small building was erected just to the northwest of the larger structure.

In 1901, the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company moved its division points here from Chippewa Falls and Stevens Point, which caused a virtual doubling of the population. Overcrowded conditions of school facilities made it necessary to have a split-shift in school attendance in the primary grades where half of the students attended in the morning and the other half attended in the afternoon.

A 1902 inspection called for the school to make various improvements which led to the building of a new brick school in 1904 that cost $13,000.

The school held the entire grade school and high school enrollment until 1939. The city kept on growing and thus, a new school building was needed to house the increasing enrollment.

The school board consisting of Hans J. Amacher, Frank Beil and Dr. G.G. Schields were empowered by the voters to construct a new high school building costing $65,000. For the first time, students were learning in two separate buildings.

An expansion was approved in 1951 which added a gymnasium, shower and dressing rooms, an athletic equipment room, an additional classroom, a kitchen and a lunch room.

A series of studies about consolidation was led in 1959-60 and by July 1961, Abbotsford and Dorchester had combined to form a school district called Dor-Abby. Abbotsford and Dorchester each operated a high school and students were bussed to either school depending upon their choice of curriculum.

This continued until 1964 when Dorchester detached from the Dor-Abby district and subsequently became part of the Colby School District. Part of the current middle/high school building was completed in 1966 for a cost of $900,000. The building served as the home of both the junior and senior high as well as elementary school. Since that time, the pool and shop were added in the 1970s, the new elementary school was built in 2008 and the FEMA addition is set to be completed this summer.

The school has long served as a pillar of the community and has helped integrate the Hispanic community in Abbotsford.