Iowa City has had public education called "high school" at least as far back as 1858, when M.B. Beals was hired as principal; though Beals' records do not show where classes were held, there were 35 boys and 35 girls attending in 1860.
 Buildings that held "high school", which included junior high school, included the Grammar School, built in 1893 on the southwest corner of the Centre Market block; and the 1903 Iowa City High School on the northeast corner of the same block.
 A gymnasium in the northwest corner of the block was built in 1911, and included a swimming pool earlier than the university had its own pool.
 The 1903 building's last high school graduating class was 1939, and the building was renamed Central Junior High School when the new City High School opened in 1939.

City High School was built through the Public Works Projects, one of many other programs formed in Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal package.
City High would become the second high school to be built in Iowa City, as the older one was becoming overcrowded as the population of the city increased.
To determine the new location of the school, Iowa City residents had to vote whether to build the school in a central location, closer to the existing high school, or in a Morningside location, which was the name of the street which it would be built by, out of town on the city's east side.
The Morningside location was favored, and the school was built on top of a large hill outside of town.
Over time, the city's suburban expansion reached the school, enclosed it, and the expanded past it.
Now, the school is contained entirely by Iowa City's east side.
Iowa City has had public education called "high school" at least as far back as 1858, when M.B. Beals was hired as principal; though Beals' records do not show where classes were held, there were 35 boys and 35 girls attending in 1860.  Buildings that held "high school", which included junior high school, included the Grammar School, built in 1893 on the southwest corner of the Centre Market block; and the 1903 Iowa City High School on the northeast corner of the same block.  A gymnasium in the northwest corner of the block was built in 1911, and included a swimming pool earlier than the university had its own pool.  The 1903 building's last high school graduating class was 1939, and the building was renamed Central Junior High School when the new City High School opened in 1939.
City High School was built through the Public Works Projects, one of many other programs formed in Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal package. City High would become the second high school to be built in Iowa City, as the older one was becoming overcrowded as the population of the city increased. To determine the new location of the school, Iowa City residents had to vote whether to build the school in a central location, closer to the existing high school, or in a Morningside location, which was the name of the street which it would be built by, out of town on the city's east side. The Morningside location was favored, and the school was built on top of a large hill outside of town. Over time, the city's suburban expansion reached the school, enclosed it, and the expanded past it. Now, the school is contained entirely by Iowa City's east side.
Iowa City High School