History

  • Ralph M. Marrs

    R. M. Marrs Junior High School, in South Omaha, opened its doors for the 1962-63 school years.  Marrs School was named after Dr. Ralph M. Marrs, a principal at South High School for 31 years.

    In 1976, as a result of the desegregation plan, Marrs became the only K-8 school in the Omaha Public School District.  At that time, third grade students attended Saratoga Primary Center in North Omaha for one year.  Fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students who resided in the Saratoga attendance area were bused to Marrs.  Seventh and eighth grade students from Druid Hill attendance area were also transported to Marrs as part of the desegregation plan.  Students from Spring Lake Elementary School attended Marrs in seventh and eighth grade.  In 1983, Riverview School, in South Omaha, was closed, and the students in kindergarten through eighth grade were relocated to Marrs School.

    Marrs Academy, formerly Marrs Elementary and Middle School, was re-organized in 1999 with the implementation of the Omaha School District's Student Assignment Plan and the end of forced busing.  Seventh and eighth grade students were transferred to other district middle schools and Marrs became a K-6 Academy located in the Orange Zone.  Academies are Title 1 schools that have smaller class sizes of fifteen in the primary  grades and twenty in the intermediate grades.  The Omaha Public Schools have initiated Academy Schools to focus on highest student achievement for all students.  Experience and educational levels of staff members are diverse. 

    Additional changes in the school structure occurred in the fall of 2004.  R. M. Marrs Elementary School became R. M. Marrs Magnet Center.  Edward "Babe" Gomez  Heritage Elementary School, on 17th and P Street, opened for students in Pre-Kindergarten through fourth grade while R. M. Marrs Magnet Center remained at the 19th and U Streets.  That site underwent a renovation project that lasted two years.  The school welcomed 637 students in grades five through seven as school opened for the 2004-2005 school year.  An eighth grade class was added to the magnet in the fall of 2005.

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