Healy Elementary School
12834 W Parkway St, Detroit, MI 48223
-Abandoned 2007
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Date Recorded: 2/23/26
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History of Healy Elementary School
Healy Elementary School was built in 1951, at 16,750 sf. is the smallest abandoned school in the City of Detroit. While a addition was supposed to be added on shortly after it was built, it never was. This addition would have been a T shaped design on the western side of the building and would have included the Gymnasium and Auditorium however this addition that would have tripled the size of the school never came, however the flat wall absent of windows shows were this addition was too be placed. “Temporary common areas” set up shortly after the school opened still exist today due to this. The gymnasium for example is a simple 8ft tall box once a classroom on the northern of the building. Basketball hoops have been placed in to give a feel of a real gymnasium. Due to its flat glass block window design Healy is often used as a prime example of a 1950s era Detroit School build, the school had a capcity of 385 students, and while originally Healy would have served grades K-8 it was reduced to K-6 after Hubert School (Demolished 2025) established a junior high school in 1959. This same year Healy’s northern boundary of land was expanded to allow for the construction of a playground and the improvement of the grounds with the installation of new trees, shrubs, and flower gardens. In the late 90s Healy’s name was changed to Healy International Academy to compete with charter schools. Despite high academic achievements at the school, due to declining enrollment and the school’s small size, it was closed in 2007 and was one of the earlier closures in the district.
Warning! Nosy Neighbors in neighborhood around Healy, they will call the police
Recollection from the author
Healy was a oddball school, while not big in size it’s condition and being a City owned school really showed this school was sealed up tight for a long time very well. Another thing that set it apart from other neighborhood schools was the “Temporary spaces”. These spaces while not anything crazy by any means did add a unique factor to a otherwise normal 1950s era school in Detroit.
1st floor hallway shot 1 (Note Healy is such a small size that 95% of the 1st floor is visible in the shot)
1st floor hallway shot 2 (Note the clock still intact a semi rare thing to see intact in this regard in City owned schools)
1st floor hallway shot 3 (Display case of the world still perfectly intact)
1st floor hallway shot 4
where drinking fountains used to be on the 1st floor, the accent above remains in great shape
1st floor hallway shot 6 facing the western side of the building (Note if the addition was to be built it would have stretched straight ahead from this hallway)
1st floor hallway shot 6 (Display case shattered)
Nearby a storage room on the 1st floor on the western side of the school
one of two staircases in Healy this is the southern staircase located next to the kindergarten room
The other staircase in Healy is on the Eastern side of the school
Kindergarten room shot 1
Kindergarten room shot 2
Kindergarten room shot 3
Kindergarten room shot 4 (Note the labels still intact on the shelves, along with outlines of blocks)
Kindergarten room shot 5 (Door leading to coat room adjacent to kindergarten room)
coat room shot 1
Coat room shot 2
storage room connected to Kindergarten room
1st floor classroom connected to kindergarten room from the coat room and storage room
On the window of the same classroom figures depicting cultures from around the world
1st floor classroom located across the hall from the Kindergarten room
that same classroom
Gymnasium shot 1
Gymnasium shot 2
Gymnasium shot 3
Gymnasium shot 4
Gymnasium shot 5
Gymnasium shot 6 (Note the display board in perfect shape aside from a tag painted on top of it in recent years)
Library shot 1
Library shot 2
Library shot 3
Library shot 4
Much of the bathrooms remain in great shape compared to many other abandoned Detroit schools
Stairs leading to the flooded basement (Above you can see the frame for the 2nd floor staircase)
Similar to Vetal Elementary Healy once features a paneled window design in its stairwells
2nd floor hallway
A very rare intact item in abandoned Detroit Schools is on the 2nd floor and is a drinking fountain
2nd floor hallway (Natural light shot)
2nd floor hallway looking towards the southern staircase
2nd floor classroom
A board in the same classroom
other half of the same classroom
2nd floor classroom
2nd floor classroom
Eastern staircase as seen from 2nd floor
Locker room but not in a typical way
This space is strange and may have been used to relieve overcrowding in Healy's early years
storage room next to "Locker room"
Eastern staircase as seen from 2nd floor
Eastern staircase below the intact display case of the world can be seen and above the 2nd floor behind the wood wall in the background of the 2nd floor is the locker room shown earlier
Looking down the Eastern 2nd floor staircase