Bartlesville
Public
School
Facilities

Bartlesville Public School Facilities

Overcrowding at College High led to the building of Sooner High across town in the eastside school complex south of Sooner Park and about a half mile east of Madison Boulevard. The new high school teams were the Spartans, with Kelly Green and Old Gold the official colors. The new 134,660 square foot school at 5900 S.E. Baylor started in 1967 with grades 10 and 11, going to grades 10-12 the next year. It included a 1,019-seat auditorium. The building cost $2,027,685 and preparing and landscaping the site cost an additional $112,682.

The school saw the first of many portable buildings in 1972 when Driver's Education was added to the curriculum. In 1980 six classrooms were added at the end of the school's southeast wing, and another ten rooms were added to the northeast wing in 1999. The site still features a few portable buildings, however.

The cross-town rivalry between the Sooner Spartans and the College High Wildcats was intense. Each side would burn the other's mascot before their big football game. Sooner was known for innovative instructional methods and outstanding music and drama departments, with school musicals and other productions becoming much-anticipated community events.

It wasn't long after Sooner opened, however, that discussion of consolidating the two high schools arose. Declining enrollments and a failed bond issue in 1980 finally forced the issue and the school board voted for consolidation. Fifteen years after its inception, Sooner High graduated its last class in 1982 and was merged with College High. The building became Bartlesville Mid-High, housing grades 9 and 10.

A 1993 bond issue allocated $120,902 for thermostat and sprinkler upgrades, renovation of the auditorium and stage, and a new telephone system. A 1998 bond issue funded the expansion of the library by 40% and the construction of a $1.1 million addition to the northeast wing of the building, adding four science labs, six classrooms, and two restrooms. The 14,400 square foot new addition was designed by Ambler Architects and McAnaw Construction was the general contractor, with subcontracts to Farris Air Conditioning Specialties, Hodges Electric Co., Hoppock Excavating, Ace Glass, Cramer Concrete, Muskogee Masonry, and mill work by Applied Visions. It was dedicated on January 14, 2000. The 1998 bond also provided for repairs to the closed-loop piping system at the school, and $123,644 of interest from that bond was used in 2001 to install air conditioning in the gymnasiums and locker rooms.

In May, 2007 a bond issue was approved that included a one-story addition on the east connecting the northeast and southeast wings to enclose the courtyard space, adding seven classrooms with the option of a second story addition in the future. In September 2007 the Bartlesville School Board approved a contract with Ambler Architects to provide architectural services to the District for the future Mid-High Addition. In December 2007 Boldt Construction, Inc. was contracted to provide construction management services for the project. In July 2008 a guaranteed maximum price of $1,629,109.64 for completion of the classroom addition was approved with a completion date of Feb. 25, 2009.

In 2008 the courtyard was improved with concrete walks and tables with benches for an outdoor learning environment, to be used once the new seven-classroom addition is complete.

Please direct any comments or suggestions regarding this page to:
Granger Meador, gmeador@bps-ok.org