Portland's Franklin High opens final school year in 1915-era building

Franklin High on Tuesday began its final school year in its movie-set-beautiful 1915-era clock-tower-topped brick building.

Beginning next summer, the school will undergo extensive demolition,remodeling and rebuilding before reopening with a thoroughly modernized interiors in fall 2017. During the coming two school years, Franklin's 1,500 students will report to the campus of the former Marshall High 2 1/2 miles away.

Students wax nostalgic about the building's beautiful brick exteriors and historic Colonial Revival look -- but not its outdated lighting, tiny basement cafeteria, worn surfaces, and ancient heating and non-existent cooling systems.

This year's freshmen will return to the reconfigured campus and fully updated school as seniors.

Students who will spend the rest of their high school years at the Marshall campus are bummed about that. But others see the value for future generations of Quakers, said senior Meghan Miller, whose little sister will arrive at the new and improved Franklin as a sophomore in fall 2017.

A few things are new at the 99-year-old school this fall, including new curb cuts, crosswalks and bike boxes to promote safety around the campus.

The school also has a new leader: Juanita Valder. Valder, formerly vice principal at nearby Cleveland High, was promoted to Franklin's principal this summer after longtime Franklin Principal Shay James was elevated to oversee all schools in the Franklin cluster.

Learning time will be maximized in Portland high schools this year.The school board added two days to the school year and classes have been lengthened to an hour and 34 minutes, with fewer late starts and assemblies to cut them short. All students, not just freshmen, started class on this opening day of the year.

Miller and fellow senior, Michael Van Sant, and junior Kaia Brunso all said they expect a great year ahead at Franklin with what Brunso called "a really nice atmosphere" due to cohesion and positivity among the student body.

Van Sant, who looks forward to the opening of his varsity football season, and Miller, who is excited to throw the javelin and train with the school's track team, said this year's senior class is a special one: highly involved at school, with strong connections among students with diverse interests and with a record of showing leadership.

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Portland's Franklin High opens final school year in 1915-era building