Official IPS Grade-School / Elementary-School Listing (Historic & Modern)
Good — I can show you a listing (partially) of grade- (elementary) schools from Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) — including many of the older schools that existed when you were growing up. This won’t guarantee that every one of the ~15 schools you attended is on the list, but it provides a reference list for many public schools in Indianapolis in the mid-20th century.
📚 Official IPS Grade-School / Elementary-School Listing (Historic & Modern)
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There is a publicly accessible archive: the “Indianapolis Public Schools collection, 1870–2008” — which includes school histories, registers of children, newsletters, yearbooks, staff directories, photographs, etc. Evergreen Library+1
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As of a 2018 archival release, the archive covers “the 120 elementary and high schools that have comprised IPS” over time. Easterseals Crossroads+2Evergreen Library+2
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The directory listing from 1949–1950 (and similar directories from adjacent years) enumerates hundreds of elementary-school entries, each with a school number, name, principal, and address. Digital Indy+2Internet Archive+2
Here is a partial/representative list of many of the grade/elementary schools under IPS (with school number + name) — again, not necessarily exhaustive — but enough to help you check against memories/addresses you might recall:
| School Number | School Name |
|---|---|
| # 1 | Nathaniel Hyde / George Rogers Clark School (formerly “School No. 1”) Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 3 | Lucretia Mott School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 4 | George Merritt / Mary E. Cable School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 5 | Oscar C. McCulloch School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 6 | Austin H. Brown School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 7 | Thomas Jefferson School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 8 | Calvin Fletcher School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 9 | Clemens Vonnegut School (Center Township Ninth Ward School) Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 10 | Henrietta Colgan School (formerly Center Township School Ten) Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 21 | Florence Fay School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 26 | (later) John Hope School No. 26 (once a large elementary school) Encyclopedia of Indianapolis+1 |
| # 33 | John Greenleaf Whittier School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 34 | Eleanor Skillen School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 43 | James Whitcomb Riley School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 44 | Riverside School (School No. 44) Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 45 | William Watson Woollen School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 46 | Daniel Webster School (formerly Belmont School) Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 47 | Thomas A. Edison School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 48 | Louis B. Russell, Jr. School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 49 | William Penn School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 50 | Nathaniel Hawthorne School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 51 | James Russell Lowell School (Brightwood) Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 52 | Emmanuel Haugh School (Haughville) Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 53 | J. K. Lilly, Sr. School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 54 | Brookside School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 55 | Eliza A. Blaker School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 56 | Francis W. Parker School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
| # 57 | George W. Julian School Genealogy Indiana+1 |
... and many others beyond # 57 — the 1949–1950 directory lists dozens more. Digital Indy+2Internet Archive+2
✅ What this list gives you (and what next steps you might take)
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This list gives you school-numbers + names — which correspond to real physical schools in Indianapolis (many with old buildings, some demolished or repurposed). That helps if you remember approximate neighborhoods, addresses, or even approximate years of attendance.
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Because the full directory (from 1949–1950 and similar) is digitized and publicly available, you (or someone you entrust) can systematically search through to see if your family name appears among “registers of children,” class lists, or yearbooks. Digital Indy+2Internet Archive+2
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Given your background (living in many locations, attending around 15 schools), this list might help narrow down possible matches — especially if you can recall even a rough street address or neighborhood.
If you like, I can build a downloadable spreadsheet (CSV format) containing all 120+ historic IPS schools (elementary + high schools) from that archive, with the number, name, and any available info (address, status, notes). That might make it easier for you to cross-reference with your memories/addresses.
Do you want me to build that spreadsheet for you now (as a table you can copy)?
You said:
ChatGPT said:
Good question. I can’t attach a literal file (like a .CSV) here — but I can build and show you a fully tabulated list (in plain text) of the historical grade/elementary schools for Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) — with school numbers and school names — based on publicly available archival directories. You could copy/paste the table into a spreadsheet tool yourself (Excel, Google Sheets, etc.) if you like.
Here is a (partial but reasonably extensive) tabulation — roughly covering many of the “IPS Elementary Schools #1 – #114” mentioned in the archive. genealogyindy.org+2digitalindy.org+2
| School No. | School Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Nathaniel Hyde / George Rogers Clark School genealogyindy.org+1 |
| 2 | Benjamin Harrison School genealogyindy.org |
| 3 | Lucretia Mott School genealogyindy.org |
| 4 | George Merritt / Mary E. Cable School genealogyindy.org |
| 5 | Oscar C. McCulloch School Historic Indianapolis+1 |
| 6 | Austin H. Brown School (School #6) ldsgenealogy.com+1 |
| 7 | Thomas Jefferson School (School #7) ldsgenealogy.com+1 |
| 8 | Calvin Fletcher School (School #8) ldsgenealogy.com+1 |
| 9 | Clemens Vonnegut School (Center Township Ninth Ward School) (School #9) ldsgenealogy.com+1 |
| 10 | Henrietta Colgan School (School #10) ldsgenealogy.com+1 |
| 12 | (Elementary school #12 — name/address listed in the 1949–1950 Directory) ldsgenealogy.com+1 |
| 13 | (Elementary school #13 — name/address listed in 1949–1950 Directory) ldsgenealogy.com+1 |
| 14 | (Elementary school #14 — from 1949–1950 Directory) ldsgenealogy.com+1 |
| 15 | (Elementary school #15 — from 1949-1950 Directory) ldsgenealogy.com+1 |
| 17 | (Elementary school #17 — from 1949-1950 Directory) ldsgenealogy.com+1 |
| … | … |
| 31 | James A. Garfield School (School #31) Government of India+1 |
| 34 | Eleanor Skillen School (School #34) Government of India+1 |
| 39 | William McKinley School (School #39) Government of India+1 |
| 43 | James Whitcomb Riley School (School #43), Government of India |
| 44 | Riverside School (School #44) Government of India |
| 46 | Daniel Webster School (School #46) Government of India+1 |
| 49 | William Penn School (School #49), Government of India |
| 51 | James Russell Lowell School (School #51) Government of India |
| 54 | Brookside School (School #54) Government of India+1 |
| 55 | IPS / Butler Lab at Eliza Blaker (School #55) Government of India+1 |
| 56 | Francis W. Parker School (School #56) Government of India+1 |
| 57 | George W. Julian School (School #57) Government of India+1 |
| 58 | Ralph Waldo Emerson School (School #58) Wikipedia+1 |
| 60 | IPS / Butler Lab at William Bell School (School #60) Government of India+1 |
| 65 | Raymond F. Brandes School (School #65) Government of India |
| 79 | Carl Wilde School (School #79) Government of India+1 |
| 82 | Christian Park School (School #82) Wikipedia+1 |
| 83 | Floro Torrence School (School #83) Government of India |
| 87 | George Washington Carver School (School #87), Government of India |
| 88 | Anna Brochhausen School (School #88) Government of India |
| 90 | Ernie Pyle School (School #90) Government of India |
| 91 | Rousseau McClellan School (School #91) Government of India |
| 94 | George S. Buck School (School #94) Government of India |
| 96 | Meredith Nicholson School (School #96) Government of India |
| 99 | Arlington Woods School (School #99) Government of India |
| 105 | Charles Warren Fairbanks School (School #105), Government of India |
| 106 | Robert Lee Frost School (School #106) Government of India |
| 107 | Lew Wallace School (School #107) Government of India |
| 109 | Jonathan Jennings School (School #109) Government of India |
| 114 | Paul I. Miller School (School #114) Government of India |
Note: The “…” in the table indicates that many more numbered elementary schools existed (up to #114), but I included a substantial cross-section — focusing especially on ones that appear in the publicly referenced resources. The full directory includes many dozens more. weeklyview.net+2genealogyindy.org+2
📄 What else to know about using this list
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The historic directories (for example, the “Directory of Indianapolis Public Schools, 1949-1950”) are publicly digitized and accessible — you can download or view the original directory via the archive. Internet Archive+1
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The archive for IPS (1870–2008), which includes school histories, enrollment registers, photographs, yearbooks, staff biographies, etc., is open for public research. Archives.isl.lib.in.us+2Evergreen Library+2
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Because your childhood involved many moves/ many schools, this table can be a starting “master list” — you could cross-reference addresses you recall (of where you lived) with likely school zones, then check the archives for class lists or yearbooks around the relevant years.
If you like, I can export this table to CSV (comma-separated) format here in text form, so you can easily copy it into Excel/Google Sheets — with School No. And School Name (two columns). That makes it easier for you to filter/search if you decide to reconstruct your school history.
Do you want me to build that CSV for you now?
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