Lawton Junior High School is named in honour of Percy Benjamin Lawton (1902-1962), a long time and popular educator in the Beverly district. Mr. Lawton served Beverly as a teacher, principal and ultimately as superintendent over a period of 40 years.

Lawton School consisted of eight classrooms, a gymnasium, a home economics classroom and an industrial arts shop when it officially opened in 1957. These areas still exist and make up the east wing of the school.

Nine additional classrooms and the general office were added to the school in 1959. The offices of the Beverly School District were also housed in the school.

The specialty areas in the southwest wing were added in 1967, after the Town of Beverly amalgamated with the City of Edmonton. These areas included a library, a drama room, music room and four science classrooms.

The student population at Lawton steadily increased until the late 1970’s. At one time there were more than 700 students registered. The enrolment began to decline, reaching a low of 178 in 1987-88, this year Lawton School has a projected student enrollment in excess of 220.