Memories of Neal Junior High and Middle School

The consolidation of Vienna and Fowler townships' schools into the Fowler-Vienna Local School District on January 1, 1961, altered the relationship between the two communities. The post-World War II "Baby Boom" had created a want of space for the rising number of students in both townships.

The Vienna Centralized School building, opened in 1915, housed the newly named Mathews High School in 1962 after Ithel F. Mathews, a beloved former teacher.

The building that would house Neal Junior High School in 1961 and later Neal Middle School began as Fowler High School, constructed in 1922.

Before new elementary school buildings were built in each township (Baker Elementary in Vienna and Currie Elementary in Fowler), children attended school in rented space at the Youngstown Air Base.

After years of dedicated use, what had become known as the Neal Building was closed in 2011. The building was later sold in an auction.

At such times, memories flow about the years spent in the school building, racing down halls, playing in the gym, learning home economics and woodworking, algebra and English. Please share your memories with us so that we may preserve the school's history.