Upper Arlington Magazine debuted in 1999, the same year CityScene Media Group was founded. 25 years later, our office is right on the corner of I-670 and Riverside Drive, and this publication has grown to include Marble Cliff and Grandview Heights.
“It’s gratifying that so many people read and are connected through the print magazine,” says CityScene CEO Kathy Gill. “We have enjoyed connecting with so many of the residents, sharing their stories and helping to unite these vibrant cities.”
As we celebrate our own birthday, we join many other organizations in the Tri-Village community hitting significant milestones of their own. Stay tuned as we highlight their celebrations in the next few issues.
Horseshoes and schools
Jones MS Staff - 1
The first staff at Jones
On land that was once used as a military training camp, Jones Middle School became the first permanent school in Upper Arlington in 1924. It was designed by Ohio Stadium architect and Upper Arlington resident Howard Dwight Smith.
The structure itself has changed dramatically over the years, with six additions between 1926 and 1997. The historic neo-classical exterior of the building has remained intact and kept up its legacy as a historic landmark. The school has served many purposes over the last century, having housed every grade from first to twelfth at some point in its history.
97-year-old Nelson French – an Upper Arlington resident who attended the school in its early days – says the school has changed a lot in 100 years.
The 1943 graduate said when he attended, there was no school bus service. Gasoline was tightly rationed his senior year due to the start of WWII, so no matter how far you lived, you made the trek pedaling or on foot.
“I would usually watch for the kids from up north to walk by, and then I knew it was time for me to get ready to go to school, so I would usually arrive about a minute before the bell rang,” French says.
The school’s namesake is J.W. Jones, the first building principal and full-time superintendent of the district. Jones’ son was a grade above French in his years of attendance.
Social opportunities looked quite different as well, from ballroom dancing at lunchtime to high school fraternities and sororities, to the annual minstrel show.
The show had various singers, dancers and acts in between. It was run by a master of ceremonies called the “interlocutor,” which French played his senior year.
Nick Judy, an eighth-grade American history teacher in his 15th year on staff at Jones, appreciates that much of the original exterior architecture was preserved.
“I love the fact that the building has survived as long as it has. They did do the renovation but it didn’t change the outside of it, and it’s got its character to it,” Judy says. “Jones has that uniqueness and attention to detail on the outside part of it instead of just a bland wall.”
Some things never change
Students doing a service learning project at Jones Middle School
German teacher Christy Charlton – a former student who is now in her 33rd year teaching at Jones – says that aside from interior aesthetic changes and technology, not much about the building is different.
“When I first started teaching here, it was pretty much the same. It smelled the same. I remember walking in for my interview and thinking, ‘Oh wow,’ it was like an identical smell,” Charlton says.
Charlton appreciates the atmosphere of the building and is excited to go to work each day in a familiar place.
“It’s a very homey atmosphere. It’s very friendly,” Charlton says. “I think it’s always felt like home and it’s felt comfortable for kids and for teachers.”
Adam Oliver, sixth-grade social studies teacher and football coach, shares this sentiment. From completing middle school at Jones to watching his kids grow up there, Oliver’s connection with the school spans a third of its history.
“It’s home. It’s just a feeling when I walk in here, and my kids went here. Just to see them come through and get to experience what Jones has to offer, just participate in all the great activities that are here, clubs. It’s home,” he says.
Student becomes the teacher
Jones Middle School staff 2023-2024
According to Charlton, there is no shortage of former students teaching at Jones today. In fact, Judy was a student of Charlton’s when he attended the school from 1998-2001.
Now colleagues, Judy and Charlton discovered they both like alternative music and are now concert buddies.
“(Joining the staff) was a very strange transition at the beginning, but it didn’t take long because all the teachers are so friendly and welcoming and supportive; they’re just kind of insistent that you get past that and move on to this different role, and it was really easy to,” Judy says.
When Charlton started teaching at Jones, she worked with six or seven teachers she had when she attended the school.
“I don’t think there’s a ton of schools where that happens as much as it does here. … I don’t know very many people who have left Jones just to leave Jones,” Charlton says.
Charlton accredits this to the school’s kind and caring values, as well as the support of the surrounding Upper Arlington community.
“We watch out for each other. We take care of each other, not just the kids but also the staff,” Charlton says. “I know personally for me, even when other things are going not so great in the rest of my life, this was always a safe place to come.”
Ava Huelskamp is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
