Castor Gardens Middle School

For the Woodrow Wilson Junior High School in Northern Edison, New Jersey, see Edison Township Public Schools.

Public middle school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Castor Gardens Middle School

School Building, September 2010
Address

1800 Cottman Avenue Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111 United States
Information
Type	Public Middle School
Established	1927; 98 years ago (1927)
School district	School District of Philadelphia
Principal	Shawn McGuigan
Grades	6-8
Enrollment	1,400
Color(s)
Website	castorgardens.philasd.org


Castor Gardens Middle School
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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Location	1800 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	40°03′09″N 75°04′08″W / 40.0525°N 75.0690°W / 40.0525; -75.0690
Area	2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built	1927-1928
Architect	Irwin T. Catharine
Architectural style	Classical Revival
MPS	Philadelphia Public Schools TR
NRHP reference No.	86003347
Added to NRHP	December 4, 1986

Castor Gardens Middle School, previously known as Woodrow Wilson Middle School, is a historic, American middle school located in the Castor Gardens neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a part of the School District of Philadelphia.

Castor Gardens Middle School has been a certified International Baccalaureate School since 2012, and also offers algebra 1.

History and notable features

Castor Gardens Middle School, which was called Woodrow Wilson Junior High until 2022, in construction during 1927.

The school was designed by architect Irwin T. Catharine, who was also architected other buildings within the Philadelphia area. It is a three-story, fifteen-bay, brick and limestone building created in the Classical Revival style. It features a projecting center entrance pavilion, four Doric order columns supporting an entablature, and a balustraded parapet.

The school's namesake was the 28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, but in 2022, the School District of Philadelphia renamed the school to Castor Gardens Middle School, reflecting the neighborhood it resides in, due to increasing incidents of related Black Lives Matter protests after the murder of George Floyd, which rendered the school a potential target of violence from the protesters due to the racial views of its namesake, Woodrow Wilson.

The historic school building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Present day

On November 14, 2017, the school was placed on lockdown at 1:45 p.m. due to reports of a gun in the school. Police surrounded the school and investigated every classroom in search for the reported firearm and later again that same afternoon to dismiss classes. The lockdown was officially declared over at 5:23 p.m. No one was harmed and no firearm was found.

On March 15, 2019, the school was placed on lockdown again, this time for approximately two hours due to reports that a student had brought three live rounds of ammunition into the building, police took the alleged suspect into custody. No weapon was discovered inside the school and no one was harmed during the incident.

On November 19, 2024, the school was placed on lockdown for a third time for 1 hour and 15 minutes from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. after reports of a stabbing which occurred between a student and two employees. One employee suffered a cut in the arm, while another suffered a cut in their abdomen. Philadelphia police discovered the suspect hiding behind a bookshelf, and then proceeded to restrain them then take them into custody, recovering the weapon in the process. The two stabbed employees recovered from the incident and returned shortly after.

References

^ "National Register Information System – (#86003347)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
"National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania". CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on July 21, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2012. Note: This includes B. Mintz (July 1986). "Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form: Woodrow Wilson Junior High School" (PDF). Retrieved June 16, 2012.
Waring, Tom (May 24, 2022). "Wilson Middle School getting a new name". Northeast Times. Retrieved October 4, 2023.

Schools in Philadelphia

School District of Philadelphia
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6-12 schools	Penn Treaty School (neighborhood)
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Neighborhood high schools	Bartram Edison/Fareira Samuel S. Fels Frankford Benjamin Franklin Furness George Washington Kensington Martin Luther King Abraham Lincoln Northeast Olney Overbrook Roxborough Sayre South Philadelphia Strawberry Mansion West Philadelphia
Alternative high schools	Bodine for International Affairs The U School (Building 21) Central Constitution Dobbins Vocational Franklin Learning Center High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) High School for Girls Lankenau Jules E. Mastbaum Technical Microsoft's School of the Future Motivation Academy at Palumbo Parkway Center City Parkway West (Mayer Sulzberger) Philadelphia Military Academy Robeson for Human Services Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush W.B. Saul (Saul of Agricultural Sciences) Swenson Arts and Technology U School
K-8 schools	Alcorn Ethan Allen Bache-Martin Rudolph Blankenburg F. Amadee Bregy G.W. Childs (Barratt Junior High) Hamilton Disston James Dobson D. Newlin Fell Thomas K. Finletter Academics Plus Edwin Fitler Academics Plus Benjamin Franklin Academics Plus Charles W. Henry Francis Hopkinson Henry H. Houston Andrew Jackson John Story Jenks Eliza Butler Kirkbride Henry C. Lea George A. McCall Delaplaine McDaniel General George G. Meade William M. Meredith Thomas Mifflin S. Weir Mitchell Andrew J. Morrison George W. Nebinger Olney Roosevelt George Sharswood Southwark Spring Garden Edwin M. Stanton Vare-Washington
Middle schools	A.M.Y. at James Martin AMY Northwest Castor Gardens Conwell Middle Magnet Dimner Beeber (Science Leadership Academy at Beeber) Paul Lawrence Dunbar Warren G. Harding M.Y.A. for the Humanities William T. Tilden Gen. Louis Wagner
Elementary schools	Joseph H. Brown Laura H. Carnell Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus Joseph W. Catharine Kennedy Crossan Academics Plus Emlen Edwin Forrest Julia Ward Howe Francis Scott Key James Logan James R. Lowell Ludlow John Marshall Alexander K. McClure Overbrook John M. Patterson Joseph Pennell Samuel W. Pennypacker Richmond William Rowen Philip H. Sheridan James J. Sullivan Bayard Taylor Frances E. Willard

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