Seltzer Elementary School

The new Seltzer Elementary School building which currently has about 630 students in Kindergarten through fifth grade opened in the fall of 2000. The previous site for Seltzer was on 127^th Street East.  Denie Spurlock, Principal and Assistant Principal, Hanne Burdette, work closely with a staff of about 65.  There are 28 general classrooms, two special education classrooms, and a gifted classroom.  In addition, Seltzer has an art classroom, two music classrooms, an ESOL classroom, a multipurpose room/gymnasium, and a cafeteria. The Media Center is the center of our school and we have a full-time librarian.

Technology is incorporated throughout the curriculum and we have four carts of wireless laptop computers that can be easily accessed into the classroom. Available to our classroom teachers are SmartBoards, projectors, classroom computers, ELMOS, Palm handhelds and clickers. The technology-rich program is a focus for the school and the staff.

The vision of the Seltzer staff is to be a Professional Learning Community that is safe, nurturing, fun, engaging and rigorous. The goal is to create a student-centered learning environment where students’ learning needs guide professional development and instruction. The instruction is provided with research-based strategies and in a literature-rich environment where there are significant relationships between staff and students.

Seltzer Elementary achieved the Standard of Excellence on the Math State Assessment in 2004-2005, as well as AYP status on the Reading State Assessment in 2004-2005. Seltzer achieved AYP status on the 2005-2006 State Reading and Math Assessments as well. Seltzer is a fully accredited school by the State of Kansas.

Seltzer has historically been involved in the Battle of the Books program. Students in grades 3, 4 and 5 participate each year. Seltzer teams have been the champions in the District wide event for most of the years involved.

Seltzer’s art teacher involves the students at Seltzer in many activities that promote community involvement. Students from Seltzer won the River Festival Tot Trot T-shirt contest in 2005 and 2006. Seltzer entered illustrations for the making of Kansas Critters: Mammals, A Wildlife Book Written and Illustrated by Kansas Kids and we are very proud that the artwork of 50 Seltzer students was published in this book.

We have four Distinguished Classroom Teacher Award winners on staff. We also received the Elementary Physical Education Model State Award and our art teacher was awarded the Kansas Art Teacher of the Year. The Wichita Business Journal awarded Seltzer Elementary the “Best Place to Work” award in the spring of 2006 and was one of the finalists for the award again in 2007.

The mission of Seltzer is to create a learning environment for ALL.

• Seltzer students will improve math computation and problem solving skills by improving the use of reflective questioning, manipulative's and the use of math prompts.
• Seltzer students will improve reading comprehension by improving comprehension in text types, especially expository, and vocabulary skills.
• Seltzer students will improve writing scores by improving sentence fluency and organization.

Each school has a site council, which is a group of parents, community members, business representatives, teachers and other school staff. Site councils identify, consider and discuss educational problems and issues at the school. Councils provide advice and counsel for evaluating state, school district and school site performance goals and objectives. Councils may also recommend methods that may be employed at the school site to meet these goals and objectives.

Meeting Day: Second Tuesday of each month
Time: 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Location: Seltzer Library
Chairperson: Terry Sader and Joe Camenzind co-chair this committee

• Professional Learning Communities
• Before-school and after-school program
• ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program
• Gifted program
• All-Day Kindergarten
• Rich curriculum using the 4 Block Reading Model and Math Investigations
• Active partnership in the Arts Partner program
• An extremely active PTO that helps support the school in all areas
• DARE Program, Grade 5
• Beginning strings, Grade 5
• Tutoring and mentoring
• Technology network that supports learning
• Outstanding Arts (Music and Art), PE and Library program

• Students recognized quarterly at an Awards Assembly
• Students recognized and photographed as the Spartan of the Week
• Students actively involved in the Battle of the Books and the Spelling Bee each year
• Spirit Day each Friday during all school morning assembly
• School Carnival
• Parent Conferences, twice each year
• Open House/Parent Information Night
• Ice Cream Social/Meet Your Teacher  
• Vocal Music Programs
• Grade Level Curriculum Nights
• Instrumental music program
• Field Day
• Last day Family Picnic
• Fall Festival
• Holiday Sing Along

The story of Seltzer School really begins with the fresh surge of western migration which swept the United States after the close of the Civil War.

After the most pressing needs of the early settlements had been met, a school was erected on the E.O. Smith farm which occupied the half section on the north side of the road between 127th and 143rd Streets East. The school itself, called the Brown School, stood about one-half mile east of 127th Street on the north side of Kellogg, also known as East U.S. Highway 54. Nothing remains at this site today, and there is little information concerning the structure. It is known that the men in the community built the school which served about 50 pupils who resided in the district which was bounded by Greenwich Road on the west from one-half mile south of Pawnee to one-half mile north of Kellogg and on the east by the Butler County line. This was an area of nine square miles. In 1876 the three half sections lying south of Pawnee were excluded, leaving the district wholly within Minneha Township.

No one seems to know why the school was called the Brown School; no one can recall a family by that name in the neighborhood. It is certain that it was designated as Common School District 31 of Sedgwick County, Kansas, and established in 1874.

The school was also used by the community as a place for public worship on Sunday. Its location in the very northern part of the district made it quite a distance for some of the patrons who used to community center, and in 1880 the school was relocated on the Thomas Means farm one-half mile north of Harry Street on 143rd Street East. This school was also called the Brown School.

In 1889 a new school was built to accommodate the increased enrollment. At this time the school was named Seltzer after the springs for which the community became known. Thad Smith was the carpenter, and materials and labor are supposed to have cost $100. In 1923 Seltzer School was more centrally located in the district, the relocation being established at the present site, 903 South 127th Street East.

On February 30, 1951 a contract was executed between the C.E. Vollmer Construction Company and Sedgwick County School District 31 in the sum of $29,415 for the construction of a new brick school to be located at 903 South 127th Street East. Brown Electrical Company had the wiring contract for $1,125, and Kendall Plumbing and Heating was to install the pump and septic tank system for $6,335. In October a housewarming welcomed patrons to the new structure which consisted of two classrooms, rest rooms and a multipurpose room. This would be the northernmost area in the present building. Enrollment was between 70 and 80 students.

In 1954 Seltzer School began another transition period. Many new housing developments had been created in the community, and there was a rapid gain of newcomers to the district. In 1956 three classrooms, a principal's office and teachers' lounge were added to the existing structure. This is the central section of the present building. Seltzer now had five teachers, a budget of $39,110, and a public transportation system.

By 1959 Seltzer had become crowded to the point there was some discussion of possible consolidation with Andover. It was thought that Andover might take the seventh and eighth grades, making further construction of facilities unnecessary; however, no action was taken.

In 1960 Seltzer gained the former students of Franklin District 72, making a total enrollment of 185. On May 26, 1960 a bond election was held at the school and carried, 57-5, to provide funds for adding the south classrooms, the kitchen and the gymnasium plus additional rest rooms. A contract for $109,035 was executed with Hibbs and Pettit, architects, and Caro Construction Company to accomplish this work. With the completion of the addition, a full-time lunch program became a part of the school program.

For the next few years, Seltzer School District continued to gain steadily in enrollment, and the activities and services offered were expanded. A school secretary was employed to relieve the principal of routine clerical duties. A nurse and counselor began to visit Seltzer a few hours each week, and instructors for art and music were added to the faculty.

In 1964 the library annex to the present building was constructed. Feldner and Frey were the architects, and the W.B. Carter Construction Company was awarded the contract for $24,889. The school now had a total of ten classrooms, a fine library space and a nice gymnasium for its comprehensive educational program. Seltzer enrolled its first kindergarten students during the 1964-65 school term.

In 1964 the Kansas Legislature passed the School Unification Act which provided for consolidation of many small school districts in the state. As a result, Seltzer Common School District 31 became a part of Unified School District 259, Wichita Public Schools, which had a K-6-3-3 organizational pattern for school attendance centers. Though Seltzer lost its seventh and eighth grade students through unification, it also gained additional students in the lower grades when its neighbor to the west, Mammoth Cave District 22, was closed. Seltzer became one of the largest in the area designated attendance centers in the city school system.

Enrollment neared 600 in 1983-84 and the ten portables which had been added in 1967 were in full use. The overcrowding was alleviated at the end of the 1984 school year as boundaries were redrawn with the opening of the new Beech Elementary School. At the beginning of the 1988-89 year, sixth grade students were incorporated into the middle school program. Enrollment in 1994-95 was 300 and increasing yearly. Three portables remain at the site.

At the beginning of the 1988-89 year, sixth grade students were incorporated into the middle school program, leaving a K-5 enrollment of around 300.

In 1998, Wichita Public Schools administration entered into a Real Estate Purchase Agreement with Leewood Homes, Inc. for the exchange of a portion of district-owned property for a new site to be used to build a new Seltzer Elementary.

Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey & Associates were hired to provide architectural and engineering services for the proposed new school. Coast to Coast Builders, Inc., was contracted to construct the new Seltzer Elementary School, which was to be approximately 60,883 square feet and is located at Lincoln and Greenwich Road.

An open house and dedication was held Thursday, September 28, 2000 at 10:30 a.m. Diane Miles, Seltzer Principal, Superintendent Winston Brooks, Board of Education President Marty Marshall and city officials cut the ribbon at the grand opening ceremony.