Schools
Building Used by Kensington School Big Part of La Grange's Education History
It has changed hands several times since it was built in 1893 by School District 102.
The in La Grangecurrently runs a day care, preschool, kindergarten, after school programs, and summer camps out of its two buildings: a historic school house at 127 N. Kensington Ave, and a modern, larger school at 125 N. Kensington Ave. Their smaller, historic school building has had a long history in the local education system. The , 444 S. LaGrange Road, gave me a wealth of information about the history of the building.
As La Grange was starting to organize as a town, there was a school at the corner of Cossitt and Ashland avenues. (It is now the location of the First United Methodist Church, 100 W. Cossitt Ave.) Members of the church held Sunday services in the school for a time. By 1880, the school had outgrown its current building and was replaced with an eight-room white limestone building across the street, which is now the present site of Cossitt Avenue School, 115 W. Cossitt Ave.
As the student population continued to grow, another school was built in 1885, known as the Poet’s Corner School. The school was located at the corner of LaGrange Road and 31st Street and was later moved to a location near LaGrange Road and Oak Avenue. Next, the decision was made to form another school midway between Cossitt Avenue School and Poet’s Corner. This school was built in 1893 by School District 102 and was then known as the North School or the “Middle School," which is the historic school house Kensington School now owns at 127 N. Kensington Ave.
Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
By 1910, both the Poet’s Corner and the North School had run out of space. The two schools were combined and replaced by the Ogden Avenue School, 501 W. Ogden Ave. The school district sold the North School building to . The building served the congregation for 40 years, both for classrooms and as an ideal meeting place for organizations and societies. Next it became known as “The Annex” for . They used this building to annex their main building but later, decreased enrollment deemed the building no longer necessary and it was sold in June of 1974. The Helping Hand School ran workshops in the building prior to Kensington School making it its home.
Despite schools outgrowing its space or no longer needing its space, this beautiful building has been persevered and remained a part of La Grange.
