“The city is filled with well-designed building types: banks, houses, churches — skyscrapers, of course. But how often are public schools considered?
“Chicago’s schools, particularly those designed between the late 1800s and early 1900s, are among the city’s most architecturally distinctive buildings.
“They’re temples to the ideals of a free public education — something to consider as the new school year gets underway.
“And the 40 schools designed by Dwight Perkins during his five-year term as the system’s chief architect are among the best of the best. I was reminded of this earlier this month when the Chicago History Museum sent out a back-to-school announcement heralding Perkins’s work.
“The sprawling, Prairie School-designed Carl Schurz High School, at 3601 N. Milwaukee Ave., is the best-known of Perkins’ work for the school system. It’s a city landmark that is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“But there is also Harper High School, at 6520 S. Wood St.; the former Trumbull Elementary, at 5200 N. Ashland Ave.; Schurz’s unsung, but not landmarked, twin, Bowen High School, at 2710 E. 89th St., and 40 other predominantly Prairie School-styled school buildings Perkins designed between 1905 and 1910.
“‘In terms of open space, the Progressive Movement, the Prairie School, he was chief architect for the public schools at a time when all of these movements were coming together,” Chicago Architecture Center President and CEO Eleanor Gorski said. “He was able to wrap all of these [movements] together in a dramatic, beautiful architectural package.”
“His schools were often lively and colorful, brick and terra-cotta buildings — almost Mayan and Egyptian in detail and form in the case of Harper High and George W. Tilton Elementary, at 221 N. Keebler Ave.
“Other schools, such as Schurz and Bowen, are strongly Prairie School, with exposed brick piers, broad overhanging roofs and horizontal ranks of windows.
“Creating open space around the schools was another hallmark of his work, particularly in the case of Schurz, where he sites the building on a triangular 8-acre site.
“‘You go in any neighborhood where his school buildings are, they stand out — in a city with tons of famous architects,’ Gorski said.
Here’s a partial list of the 40 schools designed by Dwight Perkins, during his five-year tenure as chief architect for the Chicago Public Schools. (Bey, Chicago Sun-Times, 9/5/25)
North Side
Carl Schurz High School, 3601 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Alfred Nobel Elementary, 1330 N. Karlov Ave.
(Former) Lyman Trumbull Elementary, 5200 N. Ashland Ave.
Bernhard Moos Elementary, 1711 N. California Ave.
Budlong Elementary, 2701 N. Foster Ave.
Friedrich Ludwig John Elementary, 3133 N. Wolcott Ave.
Grover Cleveland Elementary, 3832 N. Albany Ave.
(Former) Graeme Stewart Elementary, 4517 N. Kenmore Ave.
Henry Demarest Lloyd Elementary, 2103 N. Lamon Ave.
Stephen K. Hayt Elementary, 1518 W. Granville Ave.
West Side
William Penn Elementary, 1600 S. Avers Ave.
Daniel J. Corkery Elementary, 2501 S. Kolin Ave.
Gary Elementary, 3018 S. Ridgeway Ave.
George Tilton Elementary, 221 N. Keeler Ave.
Alfred Nobel Elementary, 4127 W. Hirsch St.
The Field School, 517 N. Parkside Ave.
South Side
James H. Bowen High School, 2710 E. 89th St.
George M. Pullman Elementary, 11301 S. Forrestville Ave.
(Former) William Rainey Harper High School, 6520 S. Wood St.
Source (Bey, Chicago Sun-Times, 9/5/25)