High-resolution, full color images available online
Search, browse, read, and print yearbook pages
View college, high school, and military yearbooks
Browse our digital annual library spanning centuries
Support the schools in our program by subscribing
Privacy, as we do not track users or sell information
Page 13 text:
“
Wr Wk ■ «|tig| Kipiisgi £Sp.i f- Wj $ - v W | • W ...k- . Wfi ? MM- V£ T-- -. TO % $$ h if - -v.v.-;:'. ‘ • V. r f - §gpf V i,.jr ... V- • Vv£733pti3£ra • ' • •■. •'. . •. • ... . . • '££ £■ .•y zzm
”
Page 12 text:
“
The afternoon that we first met Cap'n Rox we made an agreement with him; he would tell us all he could about the Near Rockaway he remembers, and we would bring him back to school with us and introduce him to our students and our ways of life. As school takes up so much of our time these days, we asked him first about the schools of his era, and not only did he tell us of the schools then, but he also brought us right up to our day. We checked his facts and founa that he knew what he was talking about, so here is his story just as he told it to us: It sure was dif'rent in those days. Why, I remember it like it was yest'rday. You know, the first school was built 'way back before the Revolutionary War. Yes sir, pretty as a picture she was, standing there; 'just one room, y' know; 'stood about where your village hall is now. In those days the folks didn't take much stock in ''book lamin', no sir. Most people grew up without ever having learned their ABC's. They were taught mostly by their own folks, that is, by those folks that could read and write themselves! That was right around my time y' know. Near Rockaway was then quite a place, with big 'clipper ships sailing majestically up the channel, stagecoaches bumping 'tween here and New York. Shore was plenty o' space to move around in those days. Well, during the next hundred years or so, there were a few more schools here and there, but the first modern public school in East Rockaway went up in '98, right smack in the woods. Maybe that's why they called it the Woods Avenue School; 'don't rightly know. 'Twas quite a school, as schools went in those days; 'had eight rooms, a library, and a stately bell which was not only used for calling tardy scholars, but also as a fire alarm bell. Some folks didn't know whether it was school that was out or half the town bumin' down. Woods Avenue School just had eight grades 'till '29, when they added a ninth year. When you finished all eight years, you had to go to Lynbrook or Rockville Centre as a non- 8 resident student. Pretty soon there were more pupils than Woods Avenue could handle, so in 1924, the first of your modern schools was built. Center Avenue. East Rockaway then had two elementary schools just bursting with ten o'clock scholars. In September, 1926, Dr. Harold Studwell, present superintendent of schools, was appointed supervising principal of the district's schools, and in 1929 Dr. Henry H. Bor-mann became principal of the grade schools. From '25 on the number of registrations grew by leaps and bounds, and every September up came the problem of bigger and bigger classes. To offset this, the construction of a new grade school was proposed and passed. The Center Avenue appropriation was made with the understanding that a similar fund would be voted within the next year for another modem school on the opposite side of the railroad, so in accordance with this arrangement, the lot was purchased and the Rhame Avenue School was erected. Now, by this time, the conditions in Woods Avenue were pretty bad, and modernization of all East Rockaway schools was the cry, so six-room additions were added to Rhame and Center, but upper classmen still continued to attend neighboring high schools. The need for a high school was becoming acute, and in 1933 voters resolved to construct your high school. So. during the Easter recess in 1936, the three upper classes, students and equipment, were moved lock, stock, and barrel, to their new home on the bank of Mill River, and Woods Avenue was abandoned. By 1937 a twelfth grade was added, and the first senior class graduated in June of that year. Nineteen thirty-eight brought Mr. Langworthy to East Rockaway, and for eight tumultuous years your warden served as an understanding counsellor and a genuine friend to hundreds of you young whippersnappers. An awful lot happened in those eight years, to you. and to the world. I guess you'll never forget them. Yes, you young folks can now leave this school well-equipped to meet the world—all because of a hundred and fifty years of foresight on the part of your first fathers.
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
