![Hanford High building]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1674514781/rsdedu/jdru5iv8h5imjk3e4t8d/editedIMG_3468FB.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1674514781/rsdedu/jdru5iv8h5imjk3e4t8d/editedIMG_3468FB.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1674514781/rsdedu/jdru5iv8h5imjk3e4t8d/editedIMG_3468FB.jpg","width":770}])
It’s been fifty years since what is now Hanford High School opened its doors and it has undergone quite the transformation!
When it first held classes it was a K-12 school, with an enrollment for the first year of roughly 1,550 students, with elementary and secondary classes housed in different wings of the school.
By 1977, enrollment had grown so much for secondary students that the courtyard was converted into classroom space and a second gymnasium built. The elementary portion of the school closed in 1983 and Hanford was transformed into joint middle and high schools.
It wasn’t until 2005 that Hanford become a full high school, once Enterprise Middle School was built in West Richland.
Photos courtesy of Tri-City Herald.
Original caption from the Tri-City Herald: Dr. Stan Hosman, director of the Hanford School complex, showed one of the teachers' workrooms. Each teacher will be assigned a desk in one of the workrooms and will teach in different classrooms, instead of being assigned a desk and based in a particular classroom.
Original caption from the Tri-City Herald: Acoustics in the 763-seat Hanford School auditorium allow a whisper on stage to be heard in the back rows.
Original caption from the Tri-City Herald: One of eight buildings in the $6 million Hanford School complex is the secondary wing, housing classes for junior high and high school students. At center is the doorway leading to the science laboratories and other facilities to be used jointly by the two age groups.
Original caption from the Tri-City Herald: The Hanford school complex in north Richland marks a $6 million addition to the Mid-Columbia Empire educational structures. When it opens in the fall, the 10 blocks of buildings will attract pupils in grade levels ranging from Kindergarten through the 12th grade in separate elementary, junior-high and senior-high wings. In the foreground is the gymnasium. Other separate buildings will offer industrial arts, science, fine arts and library resources.