Tradition...The History of Longfellow

Longfellow Junior High School, located at 10th Street and East Broadway was built in 1922-23 and opened for the 1923-24 school term. The school is named after the writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

E. D. Price was the Superintendent at the time Longfellow was built. R. A. Shaw was the architect for Longfellow.  Webb and Luther were the contractors. The first principal was Mr. Lloyd T. Noel.  

Even at the time of its construction, the new junior high was not large enough to take care of the enrollment. The woodwork, mechanical drawing and cafeteria had to be housed in the basement of Garfield Elementary School next door. 

The building was enlarged in 1926 and again in 1936. In 1955, it received some remodeling.  In 1957 a number of classrooms were added. In 1958 a new wing was added with many classrooms and a modern cafeteria. In 1964 a new Library wing was added on the northwest side. 

In 1943 when the high school burned, arrangements were immediately made to house the high school students in the two junior high buildings (Longfellow and Emerson) and to send the seventh graders back to the elementary buildings. This arrangment continued until the reconstructed high school building was ready in 1948.  

In the 2009-10 school year Longfellow Junior High became Longfellow Middle School due to the reassignment of grades made by the Enid Public School District.  Longfellow Middle School now houses 6th, 7th, and 8th graders becoming a true middle school. 

In the front foyer of Longfellow Middle School you will find a picture of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  This picture is a lithograph. The frame is an antique gilt frame that was made during Mr. Longfellow's lifetime.  The picture was purchased from Longfellow's home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The student council  conducted the purchase with Mr. Longfellows' grandson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana.  The price paid for the lithograph and frame in 1950 was $45.00.  Money was raised by the student council by working the concession stands at the football games, the sale of class pins, and donations from the student body totaling $18.42. 

Longfellow underwent renovations in the summer of 2012 and those were completed in 2014.  Most recently, our front office and library were remodeled in 2018 and that was completed in December 2020.  We are enjoying these new spaces!  

There has been a lot of history made at Longfellow.  Go Mustangs!

Principals  

1923-1928 Lloyd T. Noel 

1928-1933 D. Bruce Selby 

1933-1944 Leon R. Vance 

1944-1948 D. Bruce Selby 

1948-1953 Tom W. Liming

1953-1957 Homer H. Henson 

1957-1965 Perry McCoy 

1965-1969 Ertel Hall 

1969-1971 Tom Evans 

1971-1983 Richard Powers 

1983-1995 John Wright 

1995-1997  Jim R. Chancellor 

1998-2011 Ron Few 

2011-2016 Scott Fitzgerald

2016-2017 Sam Robinson

2018-Present Jon Mitchell