Ceredo Grade School

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The Ceredo Grade School was erected on the town’s Main Street
 in 1894 to replace an earlier school there, a two-room
 frame structure that had been built in 1872.

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The Ceredo Grade School was erected on the town’s
Main Street in 1894 to replace an earlier school
 there, a two-room frame structure that had
 been built in 1872. As the original school’s
 enrollment grew, it was expanded to four
 rooms in 1886 and eventually to six
 rooms. In 1893, the school became
 the first in Wayne County to
 offer high school classes.

On Oct. 6, 1895, the school was destroyed by a fire.
 The school board immediately rented rooms in
 various buildings around town for the
 duration of the year while work quickly
 began on a new school. By 1897, a new
 eight-room school had been erected
 on the same site as the original
 school. According to a Clio history
 article on the school, “it was officially
 named the Ceredo Public School
 but was commonly referred to
 as the Ceredo Grade School.”

In 1907, an east wing was added to the building
 to house the high school classes. When Ceredo
-Kenova High School opened in 1923, the
east wing became an assembly
 and recreation hall.

In February 14, 1957, the Ceredo Grade School
 was again the scene of a massive fire. Reportedly
 the fire started when the building’s coal furnace
 exploded. Fortunately, students and faculty
 had already left for the day. The fire grew
 so large, so fast, that the main building
 was destroyed. The cafeteria and three
recently added rooms were undamaged
 and so were used for temporary
 classrooms, along with rooms
 in other buildings
 around town

The destroyed school was demolished and a new,
 modern building was built on the same site. It
 opened in 1957 and was renamed Ceredo
 Elementary. In 2017, Ceredo Elementary
 and Kenova Elementary were closed
 and replaced by the new Ceredo-
Kenova Elementary, built
 in Kenova.

In January 2021, a new Ceredo Senior
 Wellness Center was opened in the
 long-vacant Ceredo Elementary
 building.

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Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Sept. 24, 2024.

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