
The learning and laughter which once filled the rooms of this Elementary School in Ohio has long been silenced.

Graffiti and decay now rule the halls and class-rooms of Wilson Elementary School in Cleveland.

Originally built in 1903, it has been gathering dust for a decade after a lack of funding forced the doors shut in 2005.

Graffiti: Spray paint and rubble now inhabit the school's decaying gymnasium, torn down by years of attrition

Worn away: The locker rooms have been battered by a decade of wind and rain

The man who took these photographs said: 'It was once a neighbourhood site where children would have carried books, papers, back packs and fresh pencils through its halls. But it is now a monumental tribute to decay.'

Theatre: And graffiti dances on the stage of the auditorium, which once hosted the school's plays

Destruction: The scene suggests the school was ravaged by an unannounced natural disaster

Withered: When actually, it was the slow and gradual process of time which eroded the paint from the walls and doors from their hinges

Eerie: Jonny Joo, who captured these images, said: 'It is now a crumbling, yet beautiful mess of decay, destruction, and street art.'

Johnny Joo, who captured these eerie images, said: 'A once beautiful middle school has been put to ruin.

'It was once a neighbourhood site where children would have carried books, papers, back packs and fresh pencils through its halls. But it is now a monumental tribute to decay.'

The school is still full of old test papers, maths books and furniture because it's thought it would be too costly to demolish the site.

Apparatus still remains in the ancient, disused science lab, while the locker room has fallen victim to the heavy wind and rain.

The colossal, yellow-bricked building lay at the centre of a bustling community, and was named after the street it faced.

Mr Joo added: 'In the early nineties, school sports teams, cheerleaders and families would fill the auditorium and gym for functions.

Shattered: The windows which protected students from the elements have long since disappeared

Abandoned: Water gathers on the roof of the three-storey building and vegetation gathers around it

Lesson's over: The only seats still standing in this massive lecture theatre are the ones sheltered from ten years of dust and wind

Left behind: Old school papers and books carpet the floors and stair-cases

Widespread: It's almost impossible to ascertain what some rooms were even used for

Barren: The hallway which once housed hundreds of happy students now resembles a scene from a horror movie

Shelter: And abandoned chairs and desks seem to be protecting themselves from the conditions which has destroyed everything else

'But it is now a crumbling, yet beautiful mess of decay, destruction, and street art through its walls from the main auditorium, through every locker remaining within the bays, to the very depths of its boiler room.

'The streets outside are littered with fluttering trash, gapped roads, and cracked side-walks lined with forgotten, vacated structures.