Program for the Sharon Township Schools 3rd Annual Commencement, 1896

This program from 1896 is from the third annual commencement for Sharon Township Schools "under the Boxwell Law." Students who graduated are listed as Ica Parker, Bertha Carrier, Herbert Watson, Harry Baker, Hal McRill, Minnie Roberts, Frank Barker, Daisy Snyder, Purley Guess, Frank Whip and Dema Asher. School Board officers include Delia Potter, President; W.F. Griswold, Treasurer; and S.R. Holt, Clerk along with seven additional members.

Sharon Township School District was established in 1825 when the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation establishing a property tax to support public schools. Sharon Township extended from the Delaware County line to present day Morse Road, and as far east as current Cleveland Ave and Minerva Park. In 1849, state legislation allowed any incorporated village or city to establish a graded school, and the Worthington School district separated from the Sharon Township School in 1854. In 1892, the state Department of Education standardized the qualifications for students to graduate from district grammar schools and enroll in nearby high schools, which in Worthington included all of Sharon Township and the northern part of Perry Township. Students who passed "Boxwell Examinations," Ohio's first proficiency exams, were guaranteed access to high school at no direct cost to the student. As Jennie McCormick states in "Two Centuries of Educational History," this "undoubtedly contributed to the need for more space." This led to the construction of a new high school in 1894, Worthington's first independent high school building, on East Granville Road, where Kilbourne Middle School now stands.