History

Named for American Poet, James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) this school opened to students in 1913. Although a full two stories, only the first floor was finished. Students in the lower four grades attended Lowell while older students rode the trolley to Washington School. Neighborhood growth led to the use of the upper classrooms in 1916, and by 1926 a new “unit” was constructed to the north, adding four more classrooms and a basement auditorium. The final south addition was completed in 1947, providing eight new classrooms, a gymnasium, and a library. This last addition to the school presents an Art Deco entrance portico, reflecting a popular style for the period. The Art Deco Style can also be seen on the adjacent Lowell Pool, a popular neighborhood destination since the early 1950s, and the first public pool associated with a Boise school.

Lowell School was the first of several in Boise to be designed on the “unit plan,” which left sides of the building unfinished. This allowed the future additions to be made with greater ease and economy than on earlier school buildings. The unit plan recognized an understanding that school buildings should be more flexible to accommodate growth and changing educational programs. Because of Lowell’s size and easy adaptability, the School District considered converting it to a junior high in the 1930s when the 8-4 grade structure was changed to a 6-3-3 structure. Instead, a new junior high (now North) was built in 1936.

At the turn of the 20th Century, primary school instruction in the Boise School District was guided by a “Teachers' Outline of Study and Manual Instruction.” Early reading curriculum made use of various primers and readers, including Baldwin’s Reading by Grades, as well as many other books on hand. The teachers used texts and manuals for mathematics instruction, but the district suggested “no text-book in the hands of pupils.” As decades passed, the School District gradually expanded the curriculum to include a greater variety of materials and textbooks in the classroom, such as Elementary Geography (published in 1921) and A Child’s History of Idaho (published in 1943).