Josephine Perry Middle School

Welcome to the Carpentersville Memories Perry Middle School Page. Our goal is to bring back some fun memories of growing up in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

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Did you go to Perry Middle School?

I remember the day that Perry Middle opened and was in the very first 5th grade class. One of the top priorities was to choose a mascot, would it be the Blue Devils or the Wildcats? Of course it was the Wildcats that won the vote. Those were great days.

Josephine Middle School

Construction of Josephine Perry Elementary School was completed in 1967. The original cost of the building was $436,083. The building was open for classes at the beginning of the 1967-68 school year.

School Additions:

1970 – North Corridor – Included an industrial arts room, a home economics room, an art room, two science rooms, a library area, and two additional classrooms.

1977 – Media center – Larger gym and back corridor.

The building was named for Josephine Esther Perry who had been a long time resident of the area and a teacher at Dundee Elementary School for over half a century.

Long before Mr. Besinger’s dream of affordable homes for the returning World War II veterans became a reality, and a few decades after the last of the Native Americans were relocated west of the Mississippi River. Josephine Esther Perry was born on December 13, 1888 on a farm near the present day site of Spring Hill Mall.

Loved for over half a century by her pupils at Dundee Elementary, admired by her colleagues, revered by school administration, and respected by the entire community, Miss Perry was in her fifty-third year of dedicated teaching at the time of her death, March 13, 1963. The schools, the community, and more than a thousand of her former students are better and greater because of her long life of devoted service.

In 1967, the Board of Education deemed it a happy privilege to name the building the Josephine Perry School in her honor.

Major Events:

1967 – the building was originally planned for a non-graded intermediate elementary program. In the first year of existence the building housed kindergarten, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students. Kings Road School housed students in kindergarten up to third grade. During the 1968-69 school year the building housed fourth, fifth and sixth grade students in a non-graded program. Many educators from surrounding school districts visited the building to see a sample of this non-graded concept in practice.

1970 – Perry adopted the “Middle School Concept” and served students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. This is also the year Perry became the attendance center for the district’s Title I program.

During the 1972-1973 school year the middle school operated on a seven period day starting at 8:00 AM and ending at 2:37 PM. The majority of the students would go home for lunch during a noon hour break.

In 1986, Perry School reverted back to an elementary school for approximately 800 students when the school board determined that Kings Road School was too crowded.

On Sunday, November 15, 1987, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. Perry School celebrated 20 years of existence with a program titled, “Josephine Perry School Celebrates Twenty Years of Educational Excellence.” During this celebration, community members and all previous students and faculty members were invited to observe a computer demonstration, a self-produced puppet show, and a lesson from the innovative new math series called Math Their Way. On the stage second grade students performed the musical Sounds We Found. A mosaic depicting the Village of Carpentersville was also created and is still displayed in the front hallway of the building.

Since 2009, the school serves students in pre-kindergarten to fourth grade. The school day begins at 8:15 A.M. and concludes at 2:45 P.M. Current programs include regular education, special education, and transitional bilingual.

Staff Size:
1972-73 school year – 38 certified staff, 7 non-certified staff, and approximately 500 students.

Josephine Perry was born on December 13, 1888 on a farm near the present day site of Spring Hill Mall.

Josephine’s father’s family migrated from County Cavan in Northern Ireland. Her mother’s family were of Scottish descent and were among the earliest settlers in Dundee Township. Her mother died when she was very young, so Josephine lived with her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. James Binnie, in West Dundee. After graduating from Dundee High School in 1908, she began her teaching career in 1910.

Loved for over a half a century by her students at Dundee Elementary School, admired by her colleagues, revered by the school administration, and respected by the entire community, Josephine Perry was in her fifty-third year of teaching at the time of her death, March 13, 1963. The schools, the community, and her former students are better because of her long life of devoted service.