Our History
In 1854, the Blanchester Public Schools consisted of a one room school, occupying rented space on the second floor of the Universalist Church, then at the corner of Old Broadway and Main.
Sometime after the Civil War a square block of land was purchased for school purposes on East Main. A four room two-story brick building was built on this land. This building sufficed until 1883 when a second four room building was built to the west of the first building.
These two buildings served the school needs of Blanchester until 1900. They were for both the high school and elementary classes.
In 1900 the older building to the west was torn down and a new building of eight rooms was erected. This building was destined to be the home of Blanchester High School until 1924.
In 1904 Blanchester High School became a full fledged four year high school. It previously had been a three year high school. To make the transition, there was no graduating class in May 1904. The faculty for the first year as a four year high school was A.I. McVey, Superintendent, Sanford Brown, Principal, and Elizabeth Chaney. The class of 1905 had 14 members.
By 1924 both the high school and grade school had become overcrowded, a new high school was built on the south end of the Main St. site. The old high school was then used to house the elementary students.
To relieve congestion in the elementary grades, the Baldwin St. building was built and opened in 1953. This became Putman Elementary.
During 1959 Edenton Schools was annexed into Blanchester Schools. Prior to that Edenton High School students who attended Blanchester High paid tuition. Also, at this time, Jefferson Township Schools consolidated with Blanchester.
Due to the consolidation and annexation of school districts, which brought about increased enrollments, Blanchester, in September 1967, opened it’s present high school. It became the fourth building to be used for high school instruction.
On November 2nd, 1999 by a vote of 1377 to 791, the voters approved a 3.94 mil bond issue, allowing Blanchester Local Schools to grow and prosper. In June 2000, construction began on a new high school, renovated junior high and middle school, and a new elementary.
