Northwood Elementary celebrates 100 years

ROYAL OAK — Northwood Elementary School has just been recognized for 100 years in Royal Oak.

The elementary school at 926 12 Mile Road opened its doors in 1923, just more than 100 years ago. During the June 12 Royal Oak Board of Education meeting, Northwood was honored with a proclamation.

Chelsea Cleghorn, former Northwood student and current Northwood teacher, said that hitting this milestone is an exciting thing to see from her perspective as a teacher, former student, and mother of future Northwood students.

“I graduated from Northwood in the ’90s and went all through Royal Oak Schools and graduated from the high school in 2006,” Cleghorn said. “Soon my son will be a student there (Northwood), starting in developmental kindergarten next year. So, I kind of have gotten a chance to experience Northwood as a student, staff member and soon as a parent, but it was a big part of my childhood, so I am really excited to be back there as a staff member now.”

Northwood underwent renovations that replaced most of its original building, which were finished during the 2022-2023 school year. Renovations included facility upgrades, select flooring replacements, elevator upgrades and other mechanical and electrical infrastructure upgrades.

Cleghorn said sometimes little reminders of the past pop out at her while walking the halls, like the little tiles that she used to see above the fireplace in her classroom as a student.

“They preserved some of the special things, like the pillars and the flowers from the front of the building, even some of the tiles from the fireplace, which I remember in my kindergarten classroom,” she said. “My kindergarten classroom had a fireplace with beautiful tiles with ducks and I think rabbits and things on them, so they have preserved some of that character from the original building.”

Molly Bascom-Keller has been the principal of Northwood for two years now and said that the preservation of some of the original parts of the school are a reminder of the rich history.

Cleghorn said that multiple staff members grew up going to Northwood.

“There is a community here where people just return to Royal Oak Schools, and specifically Northwood, because they had such a good experience in their childhood and now want to pour back into the school as adults,” Cleghorn said. “The school continues to focus on building a school community, not just with the students there, but with the families, and making it feel like the students have a place to belong.”

Bascom-Keller said being a part of such a milestone has been a particularly humbling and exciting experience.

“It’s really humbling, and it’s an honor. This school in particular is highly revered in the community. It has been an institution of educational excellence for 100 years,” she said. “It’s very humbling and an honor to be part of this wonderful community of staff, students and families, so I am just thrilled; we are hoping to continue serving the students and families of Royal Oak for many years to come.”

Bascom-Keller said Northwood is a beacon of the community and continues to pull back alumni to work for or volunteer with the school.

“We have lots of families that are second and third generation families of Northwood. We have some teachers who went to school here, and some volunteers that are former students,” she said. “One of our volunteers, who does some reading to the children, went to kindergarten at Northwood in 1953, so we have a lot of continuing history in this building.”

In honor of Northwood’s 100 years, the city of Royal Oak will be planting a tree on the  school  property in the fall, according to Bascom-Keller.

For more information on Royal Oak Schools, visit royaloakschools.org.