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A History of Minne Lusa School

Opened in a re-used school building in 1917, North Omaha’s Minne Lusa School has a long history.

Adam Fletcher Sasse
1–2 minutes

When developer Charles Marten dreamed up the largest neighborhood development in Omaha, he didn’t include a chunk of land for a school. However, he quickly realized it was necessary and carved out space along the boulevard. This is a history of the Minne Lusa School.

Minne Lusa School, North Omaha, Nebraska
This 1926 pic shows two things: First is the original building for the Minne Lusa School on the right, moved there in 1917. It was originally the Fort Street School for Incorrigible Boys. Second, you can see the original size of Minne Lusa School, which was tiny! Shown here is the construction site for the new wings.

Built in 1913, the Fort Street Special School for Incorrigible Boys was located at North 30th and Browne Street. Closing after just four years, the school was relocated to North 28th and Ida Streets in 1917.

This is the 1925 addition to Minne Lusa School under construction. The scrap lumber is from the original schoolhouse, which was demolished on site.

In 1922, a new six-room brick building was finished. Designed by John Latenser & Sons, the building address is 2630 Ida Street. In 1924 it expanded for almost 350 students in kindergarten through 8th grade. The building was added onto in 1925 when the combination gym and cafeteria were built. In 1950, classrooms were added, and in 1970 a new kitchen was built. The building was completely renovated and reopened in 1997.

As of 2019, the school had 450 students in pre-kindergarten through 6th grade. The City of Omaha continually looks past this building for historical preservation because of its lack of integrity.

Do you have any details or memories about Minne Lusa School to share? Please leave them in the comments!

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MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE HISTORY OF SCHOOLS IN NORTH OMAHA

GENERAL: Segregated Schools | Higher Education
PUBLIC GRADE SCHOOLS: Beechwood | Belvedere | Cass | Central Park | Dodge Street | Druid Hill | Florence | Fort Omaha School | Howard Kennedy | Kellom | Lake | Long | Miller Park | Minne Lusa | Monmouth Park | North Omaha (Izard) | Omaha View | Pershing | Ponca | Saratoga | Sherman | Walnut Hill | Webster
PUBLIC MIDDLE SCHOOLS: McMillan | Technical
PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS: North | Technical | Florence
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: Creighton | Dominican | Holy Angels | Holy Family | Sacred Heart | St. Benedict | St. John | St. Therese
LUTHERAN SCHOOLS: Hope | St. Paul
HIGHER EDUCATION: Omaha University | Creighton University | Presbyterian Theological Seminary | Joslyn Hall | Jacobs Hall | Fort Omaha
EDUCATORS: Eugene Skinner | Lucinda Williams nee Lucy Gamble | Edmae Swain
COMMUNITY EDUCATORS: George McPherson | Florentine Pinkston | “Professor” PJ Waddle | Christine Althouse | Bertha Calloway | Beverly Blackburn
COMMUNITY EDUCATION ORGANIZERS: Edwin Overall | Lerlean N. Johnson | Nellie Mae Webb | Ernie Chambers | BANTU
MORE: Fort Street Special School for Incorrigible Boys | Nebraska School for the Deaf and Dumb

Listen to the North Omaha History Podcast on “The History of Schools in North Omaha” »

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BONUS PICS!

Minne Lusa School, 2630 Ida Street, North Omaha, Nebraska
This is a 1925 architectural drawing of the additions to Minne Lusa School. This was designed by John Latenser & Sons.
Boy Scouts from Minne Lusa Troop 30 practice firefighting skills at OFD Station 15 in this March 8, 1931 newspaper feature.
Boy Scouts from Minne Lusa School Troop 30 practice firefighting skills at OFD Station 15 in this March 8, 1931 newspaper feature.
This is a history of the Minne Lusa Historic District for the North Omaha History Podcast with Adam Fletcher Sasse.
Listen to the North Omaha History Podcast episode #41 about the History of the Minne Lusa Historic District!

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19 responses to “A History of Minne Lusa School”

  1. Sherman Argo Avatar
    Sherman Argo

    I went to Minne Lusa in 1980 and remember bein part of the safety patrol. I also remember being in class the day that President Reagan was shot and how all of a sudden teachers pulled out televisions to watch the news. I remember the Principals name was Mr. Jorgensen.

    Reply
  2. Joe Sobota Avatar
    Joe Sobota

    Hi, Adam. Thanks for another great piece on North Omaha history! I grew up at 25th and Ida, just up the street from Minne Lusa School where I went to Kindergarten in the 1952/1953 school before going to Blessed Sacrament for grades 1 through 8.

    I still have a few memories from Minne Lusa, including the little rugs that each of us had to take nap on. I’m not sure what the point of those naps was – I remember that many of us continued to socialize during nap time though we were supposed to be quiet. The floor of our room was hardwood, and with a little practice one could navigate his rug inchworm-like from place to place, perhaps to meet up with a comrade or to get to a prime location underneath the baby grand piano in the room.

    I remember that the name of our very kind teacher was Mrs. Greavy (may be wrong on the spelling – I was only 5!).

    Even though I transferred to Blessed Sacrament, all the kids in the neighborhood used the Minne Lusa School playground. The only piece of equipment was a jungle Jim that I’m sure wouldn’t meet modern safety standards, but was fun for us. Mostly, the playground was a good space for a baseball game.

    I remember a Fall festival on that playground with games and food and costumes. There was also a “haunted house” amusement in which kids entered one of the two building entrances on the playground side and went through a series of scary stations in the darkened building basement before exiting through the other door back to the playground.

    I haven’t thought of these things in years, so thanks for jogging my memory, Adam! I’ll save some other memories for your Minne Lusa neighborhood article.

    Reply
    1. Carole Hutchings Avatar
      Carole Hutchings

      I think it was Mrs! Grebe. I lived right across Ida Street from the school and attended from 48 til 53.

      Reply
      1. Gregg Mitchell Avatar
        Gregg Mitchell

        I also had Mrs. Grebe for Kindergarten.

    2. Jim Turner Avatar
      Jim Turner

      I went to kindergarten at Minne Lusa in 1951-52, before my family moved to Dallas that summer. I remember my teacher as “Mrs Gravy,” perhaps a 5-year-old’s stab at humor or perhaps simply confusion. I was happy there, but the only specific memory I have of the school is trying to learn to dribble a ball on the playground. And failing. We lived on Whitmore street and went sledding in Miller Park.

      Reply
  3. Shirley Parks Farrington Avatar
    Shirley Parks Farrington

    So much fun reading about the Minne Lusa neighborhood. I enjoyed reading Joe Sabota’s comments. I believe his father was our doctor for many years, making house calls on his way home. Our house was located on 24th Street between Mary and Titus.
    I have so many memories of Minne Lusa School. I went there between 1957 and 1963. Mrs. Grebe (K), Miss Field (1st), Mrs. Kratky (2nd), Mrs. Thompson (3rd), Miss Maple (4th), Miss Miller, (5th) and Mrs. Platz (6th).
    Memories include (in no special order): Safety Patrol with hot chocolate on cold days; boys bringing in the flag from out front of the school by opening up a second story window and crawling through it onto the balcony; teachers going to The Birchwood Club for lunch; the annual Fall Carnival with the Haunted House walk through the boiler room: Halloween parades through the neighborhood; Open Houses; Library on second floor southeast corner; the ‘little” playground for younger students on the west side of the school and the excitement of finally being able to play on the “big” playground on the east side; Christmas programs where the whole school sang in the finale; getting the polio vaccine in the gym; teachers coming into our classroom crying telling us about the assassination of President Kennedy; learning about the tragic car accident near Christmas of the Nelson family; hatching chickens using an incubator; Mrs. Platz inviting the girls in our class over to her house for tea; Mrs. Durst (a first grade teacher) always drew the outline of her students to give as a present to parents. She also taught her class to sing “O Tannenbaum” in German; getting the Weekly Readers; having more than 30 students in our classes; square dancing after school in fifth grade. The list goes on and on.
    I am still in touch with many of my former Minne Lusa family members. It was a great neighborhood, school, and community. Thanks for highlighting those wonderful times!

    Reply
    1. Stacy Amsden Stone Avatar
      Stacy Amsden Stone

      Oh my gosh! I had forgotten many of these things but I went to Minne Lusa from 1958 to 1963 and had many of the same teachers! I also remember Mrs Carlson was principal and having the nurse come around and do head checks for lice and the Blue Angels flying in formation while the whole school watched from the “big” playground!
      Mrs. Kratky stopped my older sister one day in the hall and asked her to tell my mom that I was going to be late coming home because I was a slow poke and had to finish my classwork!

      Reply
      1. Shirley Parks Farrington Avatar
        Shirley Parks Farrington

        I, too, had to stay after school for Mrs. Kratky. It only happened once. Years later, I decided that she really was one of the best teacher I ever had. I eventually became a sixth grade teacher for the Omaha Public Schools. At the time, Mrs. Kratky was a school board member and went around visiting the various schools. She came into my classroom and told my students stories about my year as a second grader. She actually returned a few weeks later and handed me a story I had written while in her class. Pretty amazing that she would keep it for so many years.

    2. Rob Miller Avatar
      Rob Miller

      Shirley, thanks for reminding me of the silhouettes created by Mrs. Durst. Mine was proudly displayed in our living room for many years. The Fall Carnival is also a very special memory for me. That school and that neighborhood was a magical place.

      Reply
      1. Shirley Parks Farrington Avatar
        Shirley Parks Farrington

        Recently North High School had a 50 (+1) class reunion where 8 former students of Minne Lusa attended. We shared a lot of good memories including many of the carnivals! We could also tell exactly where we were when we learned about JFK’s assassination. One person reminded me that we had a student teacher in Miss Miller’s split classroom whose name was Miss Ruby, and we were very relieved to find out she was not related to Jack Ruby.

  4. Don Blackford Avatar
    Don Blackford

    Great school. Went there 1966-1971. Remember the great teachers.. kindergarten was Mrs. Brown. Loved cleaning the erasers down in the basement talking to Mr. Shultz.

    Reply
    1. Rob Miller Avatar
      Rob Miller

      Don, I was there about the same years as you. Cleaning the erasers in the school basement is a vivid memory for me. I imagine it wasn’t the healthiest endeavor, breathing in all the chalk dust as we beat the erasers together! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Susan Lathrum Avatar
    Susan Lathrum

    Ist went to kindergarten and first grade at Minne Lusa School. That would have been in 1946 and 47. One of my teachers, I think for first grade, was a Mrs. Roberts. One day she had us drawing a piecture of ourselves with crayon. Well, in those days there hadn’t been a “flesh” color devloped yet. I tried my best to make one using pink and orange and white. When Mrs. Roberts saw what I had done, she held up my drawing and told everyone in the class what a stupid thing I had done. She said that no one was that color. I should have used just the pink. I can see to this day how well I had actually done to create a flesh color. In spite of Mrs. Roberts, I became an artist and have a strong sense of color!

    Reply
  6. Patricia Miller Carlson Avatar
    Patricia Miller Carlson

    What wonderful memories these comments bring to mind. I went to Minne Lusa school for grades K through 6 from 1956 – 1963. We lived at 24th & Ida. Miss Ida Mae Borg was the principal in my early days there. Miss Grebe, the kindergarten teacher, walked to school by our house every day. I often walked to school with her. Miss Fields was my first grade teacher and another favorite of mine.
    I took my granddaughter to her school carnival last month and was telling her about the Minne Lusa fall carnival. She couldn’t believe we actually had pony rides and a spook house.
    I also remember being on safety patrol. On really cold, snowy days Mrs. Caniglia would make hot cocoa for us in the little kitchen at the back of the gym. It was a wonderful time in a wonderful place to grow up.

    Reply
  7. Jeanette Miller Butzin Avatar
    Jeanette Miller Butzin

    I grew up between 24th/25th and Newport and went to Minne Lusa K-6 (1962-69). I had Mrs. Gebe for Kindergarten. I was in 2nd grade when JFK was assassinated anOd we were sent home early as the entire nation was in grief and disbelief. I attended every fall carnival and loved the baked spaghetti that was served out of big roasters at the carnival. In my 4th grade year I won 6 cakes playing the cake walk and we were in cake-heaven for a few weeks. (Had to have help carrying them all home). So many memories oh so many years ago. Thanks for taking me back there again.

    Reply
  8. Timothy Mills Avatar
    Timothy Mills

    I went to Minne Lusa school 63-70 ,I remember Mrs Grebe was my kindergarten teacher, Mrs Browning was my 5th grade teacher she had a split room 5-6 th ,and my 6th grade teacher was Mrs Warner. Mrs Warner lived on 30th street just around Martin Avenue. Her house was pink with big W’s on the awnings. I also remember the jungle jim ,I got hurt on that,I fell backwards while hanging upside down and had to get stitches above my lip.got ahold of a couple of friends from the school 50 years later, we had lunch about a month ago. Loved that school.

    Reply
  9. Becky Bentz Avatar
    Becky Bentz

    I attended Minne Lusa for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. We lived on North 24th Street. This was in the mid 60’s. Contrary to what the article said the school did not have a cafeteria at the time. If you brought your lunch to school you stayed in a classroom to eat otherwise you went home for lunch. What a beautiful area with charming homes.

    Reply
  10. Tim Twohig Avatar
    Tim Twohig

    1975 Mrs. Browns Kindergarten class..went there thru 6th grade then on McMillan,Doesn’t even look like the same school anymore..

    Reply
  11. Douglas Rose Avatar
    Douglas Rose

    I had the honor to teach at Minne Lusa for eight years starting 1976. Our principal was Dr. J. It was my first teaching experience and was a great learning opportunity for me.
    Dr J. was my mentor along with Vicki Corey.

    Reply

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