Norris School District
Norris School District is an elementary school district in Bakersfield, California.
Norris School District was established in 1880, when farmer, Robert Norris, donated land to the Norris School District in Northwest Bakersfield. The school district has grown in size since then, but its philosophies are much the same. There are currently four elementary schools: Norris Elementary, Olive Drive Elementary, William B. Bimat Elementary, and Veterans Elementary. There is only one middle school, Norris Middle School, but the district has plans to build two new elementaries and one new middle school within the next ten years, depending on housing growth in the area.
In the 1990s Norris School District received a Golden Bell Award for their library program.
Schools
With the growth of the school district, there have been three new schools built in the past decade.Norris Elementary School
At first the Norris School was taught in a house of a local woman in 1880, however the Norris School was built in 1882 near Rosedale on land donated by Robert Norris, a local farmer. For 32 years, students in grades eight through one learned the three R's here. They also received moral and religious teachings through methods that relied heavily on rote and recitation. A teacher of a one-room school was expected to teach all eight grades as well as to serve as custodian, nurse, and disciplinarian, all for relatively little pay. The teachers at Norris School were fortunate in that one of the trustees of the district provided wood for the stove. In 1915, the school was rebuilt and it was much larger. Again in the 1950s it was reconstructed and again for the final time in 1980. In 2005 the school was moved to a new location for the middle school to have more room for more students. Current principal is Erin Hudson. The school's mascot is the Squire.Norris Middle School
Norris Middle School was established in 1959 on part of the elementary school's property. In 1983 a new addition to the campus separated the middle school from the elementary. Both schools continued growing and in 2005 Norris Elementary said goodbye to its historical campus and was moved out to Old Farm Road, leaving the entire campus to the Middle School. There is a new library named the Mary Louise Robinson Library.The band director is Jared Dalgleish, and the vocal music teacher is Ingrid Borja. As of the 2025-2026 school year, Norris Middles' principal is Amy Sawaske.
This school is the district's only middle school, and its mascot is the Knight.