RicheyElementary School

In September of 1951, Richey Elementary opened its doors to 660 students. Frank Cloud was the first principal and managed a staff of 26 teachers. Miles Bozarth, one of the teachers at the time of Richey’s opening, became the principal in 1954, a position he maintained for 13 years. During this time, the average enrollment was between 750-775 students. Richey Elementary housed accelerated classes for the district and students interested in the courses were bussed to the school. In 1968, Don Morrison became principal and served at the campus for seven years. He started the Team Teaching Method in 1973 and the following year he visited classrooms as Ready Reader the Clown and encouraged students to read in their spare time. Morrison  wanted students to learn to like books by offering rewards. Students were able to read in themed learning centers after finishing their classwork. These centers were in fun settings like an orange bathtub full of soft pillows or a beach umbrella surrounded by sea shells. Dr. Jean Hoff became the principal in 1975 with an enrollment of 735 students, 24 classroom teachers and two bilingual teachers. For the first time that same year, the school hired a full-time music teacher, speech teacher and nurse.

In more recent years, in 2018, over 120 volunteers came together to build a new KaBoom playground for the campus. The school currently serves around 660 students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grades.