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History of John Jarman Middle School Jarman Middle School—“The Original” Found in the “Original Mile” of Midwest City, Jarman’s history coincides with the birth of the City of Midwest City and Tinker Air Force Base. For almost seventy years, this building has served Midwest City’s children. Midwest City School Dedicated in the April 1944, Midwest City School was the first permanent building in the Midwest City School system and was constructed for $314,000 with funds from the Lanham Act and the Federal Works Agency. Within the school’s two wings, students, Nursery School through twelfth grade attended the new school. Built in 1946 and 1947, Eastside and Westside schools soon became the new homes to the elementary students of Midwest City. Midwest City Junior High Due to rapid growth within two years, the older student body had increased so greatly that school officials decided to divide the grades into two different sections. This division meant that each school, even though located in the same building was considered a school within itself. Each had its own offices, secretaries, principals and classrooms. The classrooms of the senior high were located in the eastern portion of the main building and the junior high occupied the western portion of the main building. In the fall of 1946, Mr. Ray Polk became the principal of Midwest City Junior High. In 1948, the students voted on and adopted the school colors, black and gold, and the mascot, the rocket, which was suggested by Mr. Bill Brannum, who was a coach and teacher. In 1951, the Junior High moved to 213 Elm Street so that the Senior High could expand. The dedication was held during the coldest part of December. People had to sit on their feet to keep them warm. After, the dedication, the end walls were toppled down so that a new building could begin. This continued until 1955, when it was realized that neither the Senior or Junior High had any room to expand. It was decided to build a new junior high and divide Midwest City Junior High into two different schools. One section was to be returned to Five MacArthur Drive and named John Jarman Junior High. The other section was sent to East Reno where the new junior high, Monroney Junior High was located. The junior high building, located at 213 Elm Street became Midwest City Senior High School. Jarman Junior High Jarman Junior High continued to be led by Mr. Polk, who later became principal of Midwest City High School. Mr. A. L. Garten, a former Monroney Junior High teacher, took his place. When Mr. Garten retired in 1975, Mr. Clinton Groves, former teacher and vice principal became the new principal. Mr. Groves retired from Jarman Junior High in 1998. Mr. Robert Touchstone led the school into the new millennium and Mr. Tom Harris, a former Midwest City High School teacher and coach, became the principal until 2003. Jarman’s vice principal, Richard Croslin became Jarman’s last principal as a junior high. On February 7, 1965, between 10:00-10:30 p.m. a fire spread through Jarman . The fire demolished classrooms, the cafeteria, main office and annihilated the library by burning 5,000 books, worth over $40,000 at the time. The fire ruined ¾ of the school. It took over 1.5 million gallons of water to put out the blaze. The next morning found 900 students without a school and over $500,000 dollars worth of damage. The seventh grade enrollment cards were burned in the fire and 260 seventh grade students had to re-enroll. The eighth and ninth grade classes were held in the gym and the seventh grade went to Kerr Junior High. 640 eighth and ninth graders had to be bussed to Midwest City High School for lunch. J. E. Sutton in his 1982 PTA presentation, states how the “Old Gym” (today called the “Small Gym”) that was built in 1944 is the only original building left from the school that was originally built. By August 1965, most of the school had been rebuilt and by October, most things were back to normal. Jarman Junior High went through several cosmetic changes. In 1968, Student Council left the school, the school emblem, which is located in the main entrance. In 1974, the new band building was built onto the school. In the 1980’s, several construction projects occurred in the building. One was the renovation and move of the Jarman library later dedicated to Virginia Nolen, the former Jarman librarian. The “New Gym” or now called the “Big Gym” was also built in 1970s along with the remodeling of the east wing. In 1997, the Wood Shop was remodeled and renovated into a new Technology and Arts wing. On May 3rd, 1999, a F5 tornado touched down in Midwest City and Del City impacting both communities. School was suspended for the rest of the week and Jarman’s Big Gym became a Red Cross emergency shelter. Students were actively involved in the community’s efforts to help those affected by the storm. Jarman Middle School In 2007, the Mid-Del Schools reorganized the school district, moving the 9th graders to Midwest City High School and moving 6th graders from elementary schools to the junior high. This reorganization made Jarman Junior High, Jarman Middle School. Mr. Richard Croslin, remained as principal and the next school year, became principal at Midwest City High School. In 2008, former Jarman teacher and Del Crest vice principal, Jason Galloway became principal until 2011. Mrs. Danette Hall, a former Jarman Rocket, became principal after Mr. Galloway. When Mrs. Hall moved on, Mrs. LaShonda Broiles, a former Jarman assistant principal, came back to Jarman from Midwest City High School and became principal. When Mrs. Broiles left Jarman to become the principal at Midwest City High School, Mrs. Lynette Brown became principal to begin the 2014 school year. Jarman Middle School still carries on the tradition of excellence started over seventy years ago.

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This page is intended to keep our parents and the community aware of upcoming events and other important information for Jarman Middle School.

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