Over the last century, Siefert Elementary School has undergone a number of changes and challenges as it sought to provide quality education to the children of the community. Within this section, the leaders, programs, and structural changes are reviewed.
Principal Tiefenthaler
In 1903, Ninth District #1 was opened on the corner of Fourteenth and Galena. The K-8 school served a student body was composed primarily of students from blue-collar German families. Pancratius Tiefenthaler was the first administrator, and he served in this capacity for three years.
Principal Siefert
In 1906, Henry O.R. Siefert replaced Tiefenthaler as principal and served as principal of Ninth District # 1 for sixteen years. The school was renamed Fourteenth Street School in 1912. Siefert retired from Milwaukee Public Schools in 1922 at the age of 82, after serving students for 63 years in numerous capacities. He was a classroom teacher, an administrator in a number of buildings, the first assistant superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, and the 14th superintendent of MPS. After his death in 1928, the school board renamed Fourteenth Street School as Siefert Elementary School to honor his many efforts to impact the lives of children throughout the district.
The Superintendent’s monthly enrollment summary reports from 1908 and 1919 reveal that during Siefert’s administration, student attendance was well over one thousand. The school was staffed with 23 teachers. Presently Siefert is a K-5 school serving just over 500 students. There are 28 teachers and over 20 assistants and Para-professionals working to meet the educational needs of the children.
Principal Tiefenthaler
Gustav E. Tiefenthaler became principal of Fourteenth Street School in 1922 and served until 1929. In 1923, the school underwent its first renovation. All of the gas lighting was replaced by electric lighting, consisting of 6 globe lights in each room. The school, as mentioned earlier, was renamed Siefert School in 1928.
During this time, there was a comprehensive public recreational and educational program in Milwaukee Public Schools. This initiative was led by Dorothy Enderis and called the “Lighted Schoolhouse.” Siefert School was one of nineteen permanent Social Center sites and offered a myriad of activities for the community. Siefert had its own orchestra and theatre. Plays were put on regularly and dances were held every Saturday evening. Numerous social clubs met often. Citywide indoor and outdoor sports programs were very popular. 35-mm movies were projected in the attic. They even iced a portion of the playground during the winter months for ice-skating. In addition to the variety of recreational activities, Siefert provided citizenship preparation and English classes to new arrivals.
Principal Koepke
In 1929, William C. Koepke replaced Tienfenthaler as principal. During his tenure, Siefert hosted the first Milwaukee Folk Council Harvest Festival. This became an annual event, which still occurs in the city today.
Principal Peck
Koepke’s principalship lasted until 1937 when Adelbert W. Peck succeeded him. Peck presided as administrator until 1952.
Principal Lipke
Melvin J. Lipke would serve as principal of Siefert from 1952 until 1964. During this time, Siefert went through another major renovation. In 1957, an annex of eight additional classrooms was added to the back of the building. This addition was quite necessary as Siefert’s population swelled to 1,300. The student body was so large that every room in the building was being used as classroom space, including the areas currently used as the teacher’s lounge and student lunchrooms.
Principal Bachman
Siefert was nearing its third major renovation when Anton Bachman took over in 1964. In order to complete this project, the teachers and students were bussed out to surrounding schools. The 61-year-old interior walls were basically torn down and replaced. The old globe lights were replaced with florescent lighting. The old coal boilers were removed, and the old classroom chalkboards were replaced. All of the windows along the west side of the building were bricked up for the purpose of energy efficiency.
Principal Galitzer
During the last few years of Bachman’s principalship, which ended in 1972, and the first few years of Harold Galitzer’s administration, Siefert took seventh grade students to provide relief to Roosevelt’s Middle School’s overcrowding. It was during this time frame that the racial demographics of the area began to shift. What had previously been a blue-collar German community began to include increasing numbers of African Americans. In 1976, Siefert began a Head Start program. Also in the early 1980’s, the school dropped its sixth grade classes, along with many other elementary schools in Milwaukee. Galitzer’s administration ended in 1986.
Principal Wood
Brenda Wood became the first woman and the first African American principal of Siefert Elementary School in 1986. In the three years she held this position, she worked to bring the school into the technology era by purchasing the first computer labs. Under her leadership, the school also became a P-5 school. This federal affiliation brought additional funding to serve the needs of the socioeconomically disadvantaged student body and reduced class size to twenty-five students per class.
Principal Martin-Elam
Sarah Martin-Elam became the 10th principal of Siefert School when she succeeded Wood in 1989. In 1992, the school became involved with the High Scope program for kindergarten and first grade students. A full-time librarian and a full-time student counselor were brought also added to the staff. Under Martin-Elam’s guidance, the school expanded and replaced its technology structure. During her tenure, the school acquired 75 Gateway Pentium III computers, was wired with a fiber optic LAN, and wired for Internet access.
Principal Hawkins
Janel Hawkins became the 11th principal of Siefert School when she succeeded Martin-Elam in 2001. Mrs. Hawkins also added SAGE funding to the building.
Principal Varela-Katz
Wanda Varela-Katz became the 12th principal of Siefert School in 2012.
Principal Deirdre Lafford
Deirdre Lafford is the 13th principal of Siefert Elementary. She previously served Siefert as the AGR Early Childhood Implementer in 2016 -2017 and returned to Siefert because of her love of the staff, students, and culture of excellence in teaching and learning.