1954-1971
1954: Norbert Jerling, who started his career as a teacher at the rural Doctor School, is named District 135’s first full-time superintendent. Mr. Jerling also serves as principal of Orland Park Elementary School.
1956: School District 135 annexes School District 134, Yunker School. The fine limestone Yunker School building, dating to 1910, still stands at 143rd St. and Wolf Rd., carefully restored by private owners who purchased the school from District 135 in the 1987.
1957: In April, District 135 approve a referendum calling for the purchase of additional property near Orland Park School and the issue of building bonds to finance repair and an eight-room addition to the 1922 building. Three years later, Orland Park School will expand again with the addition of eight classrooms and a lunchroom.
1962: School District 135 annexes School District 136, Orland Center School. The one-room school, built in 1917 at 94th Avenue and 151st Street, was the third school building on the site and by 1962 no longer in use. (District 134 students attended the newer seven-room building west of the intersection.) In 1986, the 1917 building would be moved east on 151st Street to 88th Avenue and renovated to serve as the headquarters of the Orland Area Chamber of Commerce.
1963: School District 135 annexes School District 138, Maue School . For a time, District 135 uses this small building as a kindergarten center, but it is eventually bulldozed to make room for the Eagle Ridge subdivision. (Some of the streets in Eagle Ridge are named for members of the Maue Family.)
1966: School District 135 builds Orland Jr. High School at 14855 West Ave.
1970: High Point School, built to absorb an overflow of students from Orland Park School, opens on land adjoining Orland Jr. High at 14825 West Ave. The junior high is expanded.
1971: School District 135 annexes School District 137, Doctor School, at 159th St. and 113th Ct. The first one-room schoolhouse at the site, originally named Alpine School, was built sometime in the mid-to-late 1850s. A brick one-room Doctor School was built on the same site in 1930, and, in 1957, a separate three-room building was added to the campus. Over the next 27 years, District 135 will use the 1957 building, off and on, for kindergarten or early childhood classes. In 1998, the district will close Doctor School and swap the site for village-owned land that is now part of the Meadow Ridge-Century Jr. High School campus. In 2000, both Doctor School buildings will be razed to make room for the Orland Park Sportsplex.