Shelton's Airport School

At the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy turned its auxiliary air base at Shelton over to the Port of Shelton. In about 1948, the Shelton School District had more grade school students than available classrooms, and plans were in place to build a third school in the district. In the meantime, temporary classrooms were set up in abandoned Navy barracks at the airport.

In 1948, 21-year-old Miss Kathleen Smith had just completed three years and two summer quarters at Western Washington College of Education (now Western Washington University). She was awarded a three-year teaching certificate that allowed her to teach in a public school and complete her last quarter of college the following summer. Rudy Oltman, superintendent of Shelton Public Schools, interviewed Miss Smith at the college, and shortly thereafter she received a contract to teach in Shelton.