North Jackson USD 335
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Jackson Heights is a K-12 school located five miles north of Holton, Kansas. The high school is notable for having previously been an Atlas nuclear missile site.
History
In 1969, the building which once housed one of the nine Atlas nuclear missile silos in Northeast Kansas, was converted into Jackson Heights High School. The site had housed the missile base from 1961 until its closure in 1964 and then sat empty for five years.[citation needed]
During that time, local school districts in the nearby towns of Soldier, Circleville, Netawaka and Whiting consolidated to form North Jackson Unified School District 335. A patron, Duane Wilson, then purchased the retired base from the federal government for the sum of $1.00 on behalf of the new school district. With a few minor modifications, the base became a high school and opened for classes in August 1969. In 1975, the construction of a second building was completed to accommodate the district's elementary and middle school students.[citation needed]
With the passage of a $3 million bond issue on Tuesday, November 13, 2007, the construction of new classrooms and overall facilities improvements began at Jackson Heights High School. This was the first major renovation since the school's opening and relocates middle school classrooms into the high school building.[citation needed]