History
Under an economic realignment plan, the Webster Parish School Board marked Stewart Elementatry for closure after the end of the spring semester of 2011. The school, which opened in the 1949-1950 academic year, was named for Minden businessman William G. Stewart (October 5, 1882 - August 1970), a former school board president. Like many of the early city leaders, William G. Stewart graduated from the former Minden Male Academy on Sullivan Street, a predecessor to Minden High School, which opened in 1901.
The companion school to Stewart on the eastern side of Minden is the still functioning E.S. Richardson Elementary School, named for educator and former Louisiana Tech University president E.S. Richardson. Prior to Stewart and Richardson, elementary pupils had attended classes in the high school complex on College Street. Both schools were constructed through a bond issue approved after World War II.
Prior to desegregation, the historically black Jerry A. Moore Elementary School (since closed and demolished) was operating in the western part of Minden. In its last years, Stewart was predominantly African American in enrollment, having had some 350 pupils in the 2007-2008 year, most of whom were eligible for federally-funded school lunches.
During the early 1960s, the Stewart principal was Cecil C. Ross (1912–1994), who left to become parish elementary school supervisor. From 1967-1994, Lonnie Milton Simpson (born March 26, 1937) served as principal. A native of Cotton Valley north of Minden and a graduate of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, he arrived at the school in 1960 as a sixth grade teacher. Having since retired from the school system, he remains an active Baptist layman.
Read more about this topic: William G. Stewart Elementary School
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