West End Elementary School was established in 1966 with the consolidation of Altoona High School and Walnut Grove High School. The elementary school was housed in the old Altoona High School building. Approximately 450 students attended the first year.

             In January 1969, the elementary school burned. During the construction of the new school, students attended classes in the local churches and recreation building in Altoona. Students were bused to a temporary lunchroom. The new building was opened to students in December 1970.

             The original building was built on the open concept, which consisted of six classrooms and a lunchroom. Students were multi-age grouped. In 1980, classes were self-contained, using portable dividers to separate classes. In 1987 a new wing consisted of five classrooms was added to the original building. A physical education building and a computer lab, a small classroom, and storage room were built behind the main building. In 1996, permanent walls were constructed to divide to the open space classrooms into individual classrooms. The large corner rooms also have a commons area for group activities. Presently, three of these commons areas are used for classrooms and the fourth area is used for the nurse's station. In addition, a computer lab for Writing-to-Read has been implemented in the main building for kindergarten and first grade.