History
In 1941, the Midwest City–Del City area was farmland consisting of wheat farming, dairies, and cattle ranches. Several rural schools made up the centers of their respective communities. Farmers and others living on acreages traveled to Oklahoma City to purchase what could not be produced from the land. The federal government had determined that the country would soon be in the war that was spreading in Europe and the Far East. Construction of Tinker Field began and W. P. Atkinson, seeing an opportunity, purchased 160 acres (0.65 km2) of farmland with the intention of developing a new community.
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. With the growth of Tinker Field, Midwest City increased as well. More families meant higher school enrollment. Children had to travel to Oklahoma City to attend school above the eighth grade. To meet the crisis, the Sooner School Board agreed to an expansion of the school system by April 1943; members of the Sooner School Board were: Tom Townsend, Furman L. Fox, Cecil Fish, and Oscar Rose, Superintendent of Sooner School District No. 52.
In May 1943, Rose organized for the upcoming school year. The high school was held and J.E. Sutton was hired June 1943 to be the first principal of the high school. In August 1943, the school plan was organized but there was no school building. Even though the building was not finished, it had 17 teachers and 413 students on the first day and over one thousand students to enroll during the school year. Furniture was borrowed from Draughon's Business College; half day sessions were in operation for the lower grades. Mr. Rose borrowed an old school bus from Bearden, Oklahoma, the school district he came from. There was no heat, and students had to wear their coats in class during the winter. Later people loaned stoves to the school.
The first night in April 1944, a wind hit the campus (several military huts for buildings), turning some buildings at a forty-five degree angle and it demolished the entire English room. Buildings were left where the wind pushed them, foundations were put back and the school continued. During the school year, a new brick building had been under construction next door to the collection of huts and was ready for occupancy by Spring. Students moved to the new building on April 6, 1946; it was later dedicated in May
There were fourteen students in that first senior class. Despite the weather, cold, mud, and wind storm, the hutment (collection of huts) served its purpose. This was the beginning of three great high schools: Midwest City High School, Carl Albert High School, and Del City High School.
During much of the first chapter of MCHS's existence, it resided on McArthur Drive near Rose Field. At this location, the school grew very quickly and even survived an airplane crash as a small, single-engine fighter from Tinker crashed into the school late one evening. The damaged portion was later rebuilt. Shortly thereafter (late 1950s), MCHS moved to its current location. The old MCHS is still in use today as Jarman Middle School.
After several years at the current site, the school was found to be inadequate for the growing population and was almost completely torn down. This allowed for the construction of several new wings. The new building no longer faced Elm, but instead faced Maple (the school maintains its previous address at 213 Elm). In 1957, the auditorium was completed. In 1969, the new band hall was constructed. During the mid-1970s there was a fire in the auditorium that caused significant damage, but the building was repaired. During the 1970s, the Fieldhouse was also constructed. Later more wings were added to accommodate a larger student population. In 1978, there was a flood in the band room that caused damage to much of the music library.
In the mid 1990s, the entire school's facade was given a facelift as most of the brick was covered with stucco and painted. At that time, the auditorium was remodeled yet again to create "the premier performance hall in eastern Oklahoma County". At this time, the administration building was also relocated to the MCHS grounds, facing 15th street.
During the Winter Break of the 1998-99 school year, a flood inside the auditorium caused significant damage to the electronic equipment. These problems were patched, but were not correctly repaired until the summer of 2006 when the electronic equipment was replaced with top-level equipment.
In the 2007-08 school year, freshmen were moved into the high schools. To accommodate the students, another wing was added to the building. The building currently has five wings, as well as several disconnected facilities (such as the band room, fieldhouse, locker rooms, etc.).
During the summer of 2009, a strong windstorm tore parts of the roof off the commons area of the high school. This allowed rain to flood the commons and library.
Read more about this topic: Midwest City High School
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