William Warren Doc Simmons

William Warren “Doc” Simmons is a former principal of Keystone School and helped play a significant role in creating Johnson City’s Vocational Training program. While Career Technical Education and Vocational Schools are currently a common vernacular in our society, that was not the case in the late 1930s. William Warren Simmons helped change that for Johnson City Schools. In 1941, Martha Wilder School at Myrtle Ave. and New Street became Johnson City’s Vocationial Training Center with William Warren Simmons as its director. The program opened a new world for high school students that were not college bound but needed an avenue for future employment. The school offered such crafts as welding, refrigeration, wood-working, masonry and auto mechanics. Mr. Simmons remained at the school until he died in 1957. Thanks to his pioneering efforts, the vocational program at Science Hill continues to be one of the most impressive in the region.