WS Harlan Elementary School

{{Short description|School in Lockhart, Alabama}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox school
| name = WS Harlan Elementary School
| image =
| established =
| district = Covington County
| type =
| principal = Joy Colvin{{cite web |url=http://wsharlan.cce.schoolinsites.com/?PageName='PrincipalsCorner' |title=Principal's Corner |website=W.S. Harlan Elementary School |access-date=July 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902174028/http://wsharlan.cce.schoolinsites.com/?PageName=%27PrincipalsCorner%27 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |url-status=dead}}
| enrollment = 301 as of 2017, AdvancED Executive Summary of Covington County Board of Education
| faculty =
| ratio =
| address = P.O. Box 267
| city = [[Lockhart, Alabama|Lockhart]]
| state = [[Alabama|AL]]
| zipcode = 36455
| country = [[United States|USA]]
| information = 334-858-3294
| website = [http://wsharlan.cce.schoolinsites.com/ School website]
}}
'''WS Harlan Elementary School''' is a historic American [[elementary school]] in [[Lockhart, Alabama]]. It was honored by the [[Blue Ribbon Schools Program]] in 2009.{{cite web |url=http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/list-2003.pdf |title=National Blue Ribbon Schools Program |website=www.ed.gov |access-date=July 1, 2010}}

First known as Lockhart School and established for the mill town's children, the school started in 1903 in a three-room frame building with Mrs. Christine McLeod as the first teacher and an enrollment of 75 students. The building was also used for Sunday school classes.“First Lockhart School Was Built in 1903.” The Opp News. p. 9D, 1973.

That building was used until 1924 when a more modern school (the current grammar school building) was constructed of materials from Jackson Lumber Company and named W.S. Harlan Consolidated School in honor of the lumber mill's manager, William Stewart Harlan, who had secured its construction before his death in 1923.Alabama Death and Burials Index, 1881J1974. The junior high building was also built of Jackson Lumber Company materials and constructed in 1939 as part of the [[Federal Works Agency]]'s [[Public Works Administration]].Federal Works Administration plaque for Lockhart School

The grammar school building is the oldest schoolhouse in Covington County, Alabama, still functioning as an active school.AdvancED executive summaries of Covington County schools

The school has served various grade levels through the years, from pre-K to eighth grade, but is currently an elementary school for students pre-K to sixth grade. The designations of the two buildings as "grammar school" and "junior high school" are in recognition of the days in which the school served students K-8. No matter the age of the students, W.S. Harlan School has educated the children of the Lockhart area since it was part of the mill-town community of 1903.

An [[Alabama Historical Association]] marker was unveiled at the school on December 11, 2017.{{cite web |url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=111256 |title = W.S. Harlan School Historical Marker}} On the same occasion the school's auditorium was designated the Joann Welch Geohagan Auditorium in honor of her 48 years of teaching at WSH.{{cite web | url=http://m.andalusiastarnews.com/2017/12/12/marker-unveiled-with-gallery/ | title=Marker unveiled [with gallery] | date=December 12, 2017 |website=The Andalusia Star-News |first=Michele |last=Gerlach}}

In 2018 the Alabama Bicentennial Commission and Governor [[Kay Ivey]] recognized the school as a participating bicentennial school, and WSH became an Alabama Bicentennial PastPort site for Covington County.{{Cite news|url=https://m.andalusiastarnews.com/2018/05/03/local-schools-participants-in-alabama-bicentennial/|title=Local schools participants in Alabama Bicentennial|date=May 3, 2018|work=The Andalusia Star-News|access-date=September 1, 2018|language=en-US|first=Christopher|last=Smith}}

== References ==
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[[Category:Public elementary schools in Alabama]]
[[Category:Schools in Covington County, Alabama]]