2011: Artist rendering of Journey House Center for Family Learning and Youth Athletics

1886 – 2011

1886: H.W. Longfellow School opens

1969: Americorps VISTA volunteers found “Happy Moon Journey House”

1987: Journey House purchases church on 1900 W. Washington St. (Now the Adult Learning Center)

1996: Dr. Michele Bria joins Journey House as the Associate Director—at the time Journey House has only six staff members and a budget of $270,000

1997: Journey House launches original Capital Campaign

1998: Journey House opens the Community Learning Center at Longfellow School

1999: Journey House directors meet with Mayor John Norquist at City Hall

2000: MPS approves the “Neighborhood Schools Initiative”

2006: Longfellow adds new addition and 400 more students

2008: Walter L. and Grace M. Merten Charitable Trust provides Journey House with a $500,000 donation

2008: The Zilber Family Foundation selects the Clarke Square neighborhood as one of two initial pilots of the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative

2008-2009: Journey House raises $3 million towards their Capital Campaign Fund. The goal is $5.95 million

2009: Burke Foundation provides a $1 million investment to the Journey House’s Capital Campaign Fund

2009: Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCB) are introduced as a new tax credit under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

2009: MPS receives $72 million in Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCBs)

2010: MPS approves $2.95 million toward construction of the new building

2011: Spring – Groundbreaking for the Journey House Center for Family Learning and Youth Athletics

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Longfellow School & Journey House: Past and present

by Edgar Mendez, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
March 20, 2011

<h1>Longfellow School & Journey House: Past and present</h1>
<p class="byline">by Edgar Mendez, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service <br />March 20, 2011</p>
<br />
<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-863 is-resized"><img src="https://milwaukeenns.org/clarke-square/files/2011/03/timeline2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-863" height="238" width="448" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">2011: Artist rendering of Journey House Center for Family Learning and Youth Athletics</figcaption></figure>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><span style="color: #333333">1886 – 2011</span></h3>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600"><strong>1886: </strong></span>H.W. Longfellow School opens</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">1969: </span></strong>Americorps VISTA volunteers found “Happy Moon Journey House”</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">1987:</span></strong> Journey House purchases church on 1900 W. Washington St. (Now the Adult Learning Center)</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">1996: </span></strong>Dr. Michele Bria joins Journey House as the Associate Director—at the time Journey House has only six staff members and a budget of $270,000</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">1997: </span></strong>Journey House launches original Capital Campaign</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">1998: </span></strong>Journey House opens the Community Learning Center at Longfellow School</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">1999: </span></strong>Journey House directors meet with Mayor John Norquist at City Hall</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">2000:</span></strong> MPS approves the “Neighborhood Schools Initiative”</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">2006:</span></strong> Longfellow adds new addition and 400 more students</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">2008: </span></strong>Walter L. and Grace M. Merten Charitable Trust provides Journey House with a $500,000 donation</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">2008: </span></strong>The Zilber Family Foundation selects the Clarke Square neighborhood as one of two initial pilots of the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">2008-2009: </span></strong>Journey House raises $3 million towards their Capital Campaign Fund. The goal is $5.95 million</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">2009: </span></strong>Burke Foundation provides a $1 million investment to the Journey House’s Capital Campaign Fund</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">2009: </span></strong>Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCB) are introduced as a new tax credit under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">2009: </span></strong>MPS receives $72 million in Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCBs)</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">2010: </span></strong>MPS approves $2.95 million toward construction of the new building</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff6600">2011: </span></strong>Spring – Groundbreaking for the Journey House Center for Family Learning and Youth Athletics</p>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://milwaukeenns.org/2011/03/20/longfellow-school-journey-house-past-and-present/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://milwaukeenns.org&quot;&gt;Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/milwaukeenns.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-NNS-Favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
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Longfellow School & Journey House: Past and present

1886 – 2011

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1886 – 2011

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Edgar MendezManaging editor

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