Russell Calvert, at just five years old, stepped into the halls of Jones Elementary School for the first time as a kindergartener. The year was 1947.
Today, 78 years later, Calvert gathered with other Jones alumni at Community High School, the new school that sits where Jones School once stood: 401 N. Division St. They came for the unveiling of a marker, representing the history of our school and the surrounding neighborhood.
Jones School opened in 1922 and served mostly Black and immigrant families in the neighborhood. Due to housing discrimination and redlining, Jones had the largest Black student population in Ann Arbor at the time. The school was closed in 1965 by the Board of Education as an act to desegregate schools in Ann Arbor, sending Jones students to elementary schools around the district. Calvert didn’t agree with the decision to split up the student body of Jones school because he had found a sense of comfort at Jones.
In 6th grade at Jones School, Calvert acted as a crossing guard for younger children. As part of the Safety Patrol, he helped walk kids across the street. During his time, Calvert was a Safety Captain, recognized by the American Automobile Association (AAA).
Calvert joined 14 other Michigan Safety Patrol boys that year to attend a trip to Washington, D.C, sponsored by the AAA. Representing Jones School during the trip, he viewed tourist sights but also met Homer Samuel Ferguson, the Michigan Senator at the time.
Calvert was also one of the Jones alumni to attend the showing of “There Went the Neighborhood” last spring, along with CHS students. After the documentary, Calvert and other alumni sat on the stage of Michigan Theater and answered questions about the history of Kerrytown and Jones School.
“Nothing but good memories of Jones School,” Calvert said.
When Calvert attended the unveiling ceremony of the Jones School marker on May 15, 2025, he and Jones alumni surrounded the marker, seeing their friends and themselves in the photos and reading the blurbs written about their history.
Many people spoke during the event. One was Paul Harrison, who served on the Jones School Historical Marker Committee and was a student at Jones Elementary during the split. Janelle Johnson, CHS forum leader and CR monitor, also gave a speech. She spoke about the importance of the marker.
“This has been a labor of love for over three years,” Johnson said during her opening remarks. “It’s about time that the Jones School alumni and Black Ann Arbor be recognized.”
Jones alumni also had a chance to speak, sharing their gratitude for the marker and reminiscing about how included they felt when they attended Jones School.
Ann Arbor Public School Superintendent Jazz Parks attended to commemorate the occasion as well. Parks acknowledged that this marker was long overdue.
CHS counselor Brian Williams spoke during the ceremony, talking about the journey of making the marker. Almost half a decade ago, Williams began looking into the history of the building where he works, and he kept diving into the history.
“We started looking into what this building started as,” Williams said. “Immediately, we saw that this is a very important building. It shows us a very important part of Ann Arbor that I don’t think many who live in Ann Arbor are aware of. That started this journey.”
With the help of CHS teacher Joslyn Hunscher-Young, Williams and CHS staff, the school created a year-long journey into the past of our community for the 100th anniversary of the opening of Jones School. Celebrated in 2022, the 2022-23 school year at CHS was filled with events to share the history of our school. Students watched documentaries, listened to speakers and integrated the history through the classrooms.
Hunscher-Young researched the Black history of Ann Arbor 20 years ago when she attended Community High as a student. Now, she has helped create a permanent marker to show others what this place was before CHS came to be.
Graduating from CHS last year, Ivy Izakowski was one of three students part of the Jones School Community Resource (CR) in the 2022-23 school year. As part of the CR, she helped choose the marker layout. Izakowski attended the unveiling ceremony, and she’s very proud of how the marker turned out.
“Because of that CR, I cultivated a personal relationship with the Black community here and the history of this neighborhood,” Izakowski said.
Now, with the marker sitting right in front of CHS, people will continue to learn about the history of Kerrytown and its Black roots.
Looking back at their time, Jones alumni remembered the different aspects of the school. With kindergarteners and 6th graders in the hallways, Jones School was packed with many different ages. The school had a lively music program, which Calvert participated in during his time there. Jones also housed junior high sports, like football.
Rosetta Renfroe didn’t attend Jones School, but she graduated from Pioneer High School in 1982. She attended the Jones Memorial Celebration and reminisced about her days in high school. Looking at the Jones marker, Renfore is proud that the plaque finally stands.
“It is one of the greatest things for the Black community,” Renfore said. “Nothing has been dedicated to us. Jones School was a part of segregation, but it was also a part of those kids.”
She recognized some of the people in the photos shown on the marker, some she calls friends and past classmates. It means everything to Renfore. These people are the ones she looked up to when she was a child.
“Davis, with the gray hair, she came to school with me,” Renfore said. “She dedicated her whole life to the school and the community. I’m so grateful to her because she was a trailblazer from our era whom the other children can follow.”
The marker brings back memories of Renfore’s community from when she was younger. One thing she remembers is everyone helping each other out, always lending a hand and never saying no.
“It made the community stronger when we could all work together,” Renfore said. “We never did build a Wall Street or anything like that, but we built a perfect community where we didn’t have to worry about anything.”
The marker not only recognizes Jones Elementary, but it also shares the history of the Black community in Ann Arbor. Although it took 60 years after the closing of Jones to put up the marker, it will stay up for decades to come. Jones School will always be a part of Community High.
