History

East Central was founded in 1904 as an independent school district. The original combined school was built on the northeast corner of what is now Admiral Boulevard and Garnett Road in 1927 and included an elementary school, a junior high school, and a high school. With the growth of the East Central district, the school built an expansion to house the high school in 1955 and built a new elementary school on East 6th Street that was completed in November 1958.

In the summer of 1964, the people of the district voted to be annexed into the Tulsa Public Schools starting in the 1964-1965 school year.

The current school facility opened in 1966 on East 11th Street, with the addition of an athletic stadium in 1997. The architect of the landmark Rose Bowl bowling alley on 11th Street (old Route 66), William Henry Ryan, also designed East Central High School. The building is unique because it was designed to be a safe nuclear fallout shelter: all of the plumbing is underground and there are no windows.