Named for a poet, this is where KC’s first public school kindergarten got its start

In the late 1800s, Kansas City faced one of the problems that all boom towns do—not enough schools. So the school district, which started modestly in 1867, began playing catch up.

Interestingly, many of the elementary schools built here from 1886-1891 were named for poets, including John Greenleaf Whittier.

Whittier School, east of downtown at Peery Avenue & Indiana Street, opened in 1891, just six months after the site was acquired.

Whittier was the city’s first school to fly a US flag on the grounds and the first to offer kindergarten classes.

An exhibit created by the school was awarded a silver medal at the 1904 World’s Fair, and according to reports, later lent to educators in Moscow.

Former Kansas City mayor John Gage, Kansas City Star sportswriter Ernest Mehl and artist Gale Stockwell were among the original Whittier School’s graduates.

In 1959, the aging structure was replaced by a much larger building with entrances on both Indiana Street and Bales Avenue. Since then it’s continued to serve the Lykins neighborhood, increasingly among the city’s most diverse.

But Whittier’s 134-year run (in two different buildings) is about to end. The Kansas City School District has announced plans to close it permanently in 2026.

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