The first school opened for School District #2 in Kalamazoo Township around 1833.Nicknamed, “Toad Hollow,” it was located at the corner of Parkview and Knox Avenues in what is now known as the Oakwood neighborhood. In 1884, the school moved to the present site of the Public Safety station for the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety on Parkview Avenue between Laird and Barnard Streets. At that time the school became known as Lake View and in 1908 renamed Oakwood Park School.From 1908 until 1917 it was part of the rural education training program run by Western State Normal School. In 1920,an addition was added to the school and in 1924 both early buildings were gone, replaced by a new building. The school only went to grade 8 and students would go either to Kalamazoo Central or Western’s Training School for high school with tuition paid for by the school district. A new Oakwood Junior High School opened on Oakland Drive near White’s Road in September, 1952. In 1956 voters approved the annexation of the school district into the Kalamazoo Public Schools which occurred in June of 1957.