From 1930 to Today, Here's What School Looked Like The Year You Were Born
From 1930 to Today, Here's What School Looked Like The Year You Were Born
No matter where, or when, you grew up, we all have one thing in common — memories of school. Whether you grew up with chalkboards or Smart Boards, notepads or iPads, some things about going to school have changed a lot in the past century — and some things are still the same. We took a peek into classrooms going back to 1930, and there have always been attentive students, patient teachers, and young minds ready to absorb information. Then again, some things have changed quite a bit, as you can see through the fashion, technology, and makeup of the student body captured in these photos. Take a look at how schools have changed — and how they haven't — over the past 90 years.
1930
Children gather around a teacher as she writes different animal names on the blackboard.
1931
At a California nursery school, children are seen playing games of make believe.
1932
High school students smile for a class photo at the Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore, Maryland.
1933
A group of girls enjoy an outdoor painting class while on a school trip to the beach.
1934
A teacher at a London school teaches her pupils how to play cricket.
1935
A teacher in Hampton, Virginia uses a pointer to help her young students study arithmetic.
1936
A group of young choir girls being conducted by their teacher.
1937
Students share desks with their schoolmates at a segregated school in southeast Missouri.
1938
A young boy works at his desk at a school located in a Greenbelt Community in Ohio, which was constructed as a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.
1939
Children taking turns on the slide at a school playground in Greenhills, Ohio.
1940
Students walk home together after class in Brooklyn, New York.
1941
During World War II an elementary school teacher shows her students how to use a gas mask in case of an attack.
1942
Young immigrants, who came through New York's Ellis Island, at a nursery school learning how to speak several new languages.
1943
Elementary school students place their heads on their desk during the day's "rest period."
1944
Students at the University of Wisconsin play pool in their free time.
1945
Four young students wait on the steps of their schoolhouse in 1945, a time when schools were still segregated in America.
1946
Eighth grade students pay attention at a school in Montpelier, Vermont.
1947
Students and teachers gather together at PS 221 in Brooklyn, New York.
1948
Two students on their first day of school in Harlem, New York, have a little fun behind their teacher's back.
1949
A boy and girl hold hands as they walk to school.
1950
A group of high school girls stand on the sidelines during a break from playing jai alai.
1951
A teacher welcomes her students back to class following the holiday break.
1952
High school students sit attentively during an assembly.
1953
High schoolers practice hitting the right notes during vocal music class.
1954
The landmark Supreme Court case Brown vs. the Board of Education ruled that the racial segregation of students in public schools was unconstitutional. Here, students interact on their first day of learning in a desegregated classroom.
1955
A classroom of students is excited to try out their new desks, which could be adjusted to be flat or sloped.
1956
Elementary school students take turns jumping rope during recess.
1957
A high school student works out a calculus equation on the chalkboard.
1958
A teacher uses a skeleton to illustrate his point during a science lecture.
1959
Students are hard at work while their teacher keeps a watchful eye.
1960
This students look just a *little* distracted while posing for a class picture.
1961
A student teacher subs in to teach a second grade class.
1962
College students spend time in the library stacks to get some research done.
1963
Junior high students utilize their school's current events charts to get an assignment done.
1964
Safety Students wear their vests proudly as they wait to help classmates outside of their elementary school.
1965
High schoolers gather around tables in the main hall during their free period.
1966
Students pile off buses for their first day back to school after summer break.
1967
A teacher gets a short break while the students focus on a lesson being delivered from the TV.
1968
Kids chat with one another on the school bus together.
1969
A high school student attempts to get some studying done while sitting in an empty hallway.
1970
Two high schoolers attempt to conquer a few hurdles during gym class.
1971
Kids wait on long lines to grab their lunch from the cafeteria.
1972
A teacher watches over her students as they receive lessons from the library media center.
1973
Children work with saws in the wood shop of their elementary school.
1974
Sixth graders join forces for a group project, which requires some work on the typewriter.
1975
A teacher calls on her student who has his hand raised in their classroom.
1976
Kids work on a class project making a quilt to celebrate the country's bicentennial.
1977
A fifth grade student spends some quality time with the class pet.
1978
Students participate in a school Read-a-Thon to raise money for people living with Multiple Sclerosis.
1979
Some kids get a bit rowdy on the bus ride to their elementary school.
1980
This marching band is in full uniform and ready to entertain at a high school in Hull, MA.
1981
Students in New Jersey congregate in front of their high school.
1983
Break-dancers work on their routine in the yard of a New York City junior high school.
1984
A high school football team takes a knee while listening to presidential hopeful Walter Mondale give a speech.
1985
An 11-year-old gets some instruction while typing away at a computer class.
1986
A teen girl gets her blood pressure checked by the school nurse.
1987
Elementary school students in New York City go on a field trip to the Bronx Zoo to see pandas on loan from the Beijing Zoo.
1988
New Jersey principal Joe Clark made the news for his controversial methods for keeping kids in — and bad influences out — of his school.
1989
A couple of teachers pair up to teach a lesson to their junior high school class.
1990
Two students have a bit of fun looking out the back window of their bus on the way home from the first day of school.
1991
First grade students get some painting done during art class.
1993
A jazz ensemble rehearses one of its songs at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Texas.
1994
Students dine on Pizza Hut, available in their school cafeteria.
1995
An advanced placement student works out a math problem using his Texas Instruments graphing calculator.
1996
Middle school kids wear gym uniforms while stretching during P.E. class.
1997
The cheerleading squad and marching band entertain the crowd at a Halloween dance at a California high school.
1998
A first grade class follows their teacher back to the classroom after a break for gym class.
1999
Second grade students reading and writing in class at their year-round school in San Diego.
2000
A teacher lines up her kindergarteners to tour their new classroom.
2001
Two fourth grade students build and program a robot that throws balls of paper for robotics class.
2002
Third grade classmates play games together during indoor recess at their Maryland elementary school.
2003
The CEO of Office Depot, Bruce Nelson, acts as "Principal for a Day" at an elementary school in Delray Beach, FL.
2004
A beautiful spring day is the perfect opportunity to get in some outdoor study time on a college campus in the Northeast.
2005
A class of kindergarteners has a lot of questions after being visited by an Abe Lincoln look-alike for story time.
2006
A U.S. marine visits the students who sent care packages to his unit while he was deployed in the Gulf.
2007
Students at an Iowa high school show up to support their football team during a game held on Halloween.
2008
Students make some final trips to their lockers before going home for the night at a school in Washington D.C.
2009
Sixth grade students in San Diego use their laptops to work on some problems during algebra.
2010
Elementary school students take out their new supplies on the first day of class for the new year.
2011
Fourth grade students at a school for the gifted attempt to solve a probability exercise with a little teamwork.
2012
A Texas high school student holds up his school-issued iPad to make a point during geography class.
2013
A New York science teacher performs an experiment for his students.
2014
Two seventh graders get some assistance from their teacher during a class on ancient civilizations.
2015
A student uses an iPad to scan a QR code during an exercise in math class.
2016
Portland high schoolers take notes during a lesson in history class.
2017
A comfort dog named Juno gives a kiss to a student at a Queens public school.
2018
Virginia's Teacher of the Year gives some guidance to his fifth grade student.
2019
Music teacher Thomas Murley leads a class at the Sylvanie Williams College Prep in New Orleans, Louisiana.
2020
A young boy plays basketball on playground in Chelsea, New York. Schools across the country are grappling with plans for the return to school during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Let's step back in time.
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