Richburg Central School - Quill Yearbook (Richburg, NY)

Page 8 text:

l 1 l TWENTY YEARS OF has averaged between fifteen and twenty. During the war years, because of the decrease in the num- ber of boys in high school and the shortage of teach- ers, Bolivar and Richburg decided to share an Agri- culture teacher, so at the present time, Mr. Davis heads the department in both schools. There is a total enrollment of twenty-six pupils in the two schools this year. In as much as one Agriculture teacher could instruct approximately fifty pupils eas- ily, it is perhaps best from an economical stand- point for the two schools to continue this department jointly, for an indefinite period. Superintendent VV. Coyle issued the order for the annexation of common school district No. 1, Clarksville, to the Richburg Central School on De- cember 7, 1938. In August 1939 the Board of Education author- ized Harry E. Goodrich to set a monument in the southeast corner of the school yard to commemorate the first oil well drilled in the Town of Wirt. Cn September 19, 1939 at a special meeting of the legal voters of the Central District, an appro- priation of 325,000 was carried by a majority to build a new school at West Clarksville which would accommodate pupils of the first six grades in that community. A combination gymnasium and audi- torium were to be included in the plans. Bids were let, construction started and the building was ready 8. Agriculture Building 9. West Clarksville School for use in the Spring of 19-10. It was also decided at this meeting to authorize the Board of Education to rent with the privilege of purchase, a suitable building as a Central School bus garage with the understanding that the rent could be applied on the purchase price. On November 17, 1939 the Central District was redesignated as Central School District No. 1 of the Towns of Wirt, Bolivar, and Clarksville, Allegany County, by the State Education Department. Bids on the old school building at West Clarks- ville were received and hir. Ross Shelley, the high- est bidder, became the owner. On April 18, 19-10 daylight saving time was adopted for the first time in the daily school schedule. A committee of the Board of Education, on June 3, 1940, arranged with private individuals for the construction of a garage building to be rented to the school district. At the annual school meeting of the Central Dis- trict July 9, 19-I-0 Mrs. Congdon of Clarksville, on behalf of the Clarksville people, expressed their ap- preciation for the new building recently erected in VVest Clarksville. The Central District had again kept faith with its promises. The legal voters of the Bartoo branch school de- cided to send all their pupils to the Richburg Cen- tral School on July 22, 1940. The Cooley district voted to do the same and both school districts de- cided to dispose of their school houses. In February 19-I-1 it was decided to initiate an Industrial Arts course in Junior High School, us- ing the Agriculture teacher as instructor. The Prin- cipal was authorized to buy the necessary equipment. During the year of 1941 the ceiling in both the music room and gymnasium were sound-proofed. In July 19-1-1 it was decided to buy a fifty-five passenger bus to replace one of the older ones. In August 19-1-1 it was decided, that, in as much as the District had invested so much money in trans- portation equipment they should employ a full-time mechanic and bus driver. This arrangement has proven very satisfactorily and is still continued.

Page 7 text:

PROGRESS AT RICHBURG Held alone, the Central Rural School has done con- siderable to bring a worthwhile culture of music to the pupils of our school. This objective, to be sure, could never have been done in the former common school district. At a meeting in September 1935 the voters of the Central School District decided to purchase the nec- essary land for a playground and develop it with the aid of a W. P. A. grant. The grant was made and accepted on November 18, 1935. Work began im- mediately on the project and it was ready for use the following fall of 1936. In March 1936 it was felt that the work of a part-time school nurse in the District was not suf- ficient to take care of all the health needs of the Central School, so it was decided to employ a full- time nurse-teacher for the following fall term. Cn July 1-I-, 1936 the legal voters of the Babcock School District, Wirt No. 3, expressed the desire to centralize with Richburg and were accepted. Thus the Babcock district became the first common school to be added to the Richburg Central School since its original inception ten years earlier. In August 1936 the Hornell Gas and Light Com- pany offered and were granted permission to install two gas ranges and a refrigerator in the Homemak- ing Department at no cost to the Board. It was agreed that the equipment was to remain the prop- erty of the Company who would have the right to substitute new ranges from time to time. This proved to be a very advantageous arrangement for the Central School, as it gave the pupils of the Dis- trict an opportunity to use modern and up-to-date equipment in their home economics classes. In July 1936 it was decided to purchase a new Brockway thirty-passenger bus which brought the total of District owned buses to five. In August 1936 the Ideal Tile and Marble Com- pany of Olean, was given a contract to tile the boys' shower room. The Messer Oil Corporation, in January 1937, 6. Jordan Hill School 7. Bartoo School gave a parcel of land to the school district enabling them to enlarge the new playground considerably. A complete stage lighting installation was pur- chased for the auditorium in February 1937. In July 1937 a sixty-one passenger Brockway bus was purchased to replace one of the former buses purchased by the District. In February 1938 because of the need of dividing an overcrowded first grade, it was decided to move the Industrial Arts department into the old fire hall across the street from the School. This building still houses the Industrial Arts and Agriculture depart- ments of the Richburg Central School. An order by the District Superintendent of Schools, W. Coyle, on March 31, 1938 dis- solved common school district, Wirt No. 11, com- monly known as the Cooley district and annexed it to the Richburg Central School effective July 1, 1938. The Board minutes revealed that, in the school year of 1937-38, approximately eighty pupils were served lunches daily. One woman was employed by the school to prepare lunches with students assisting during their free periods. Today, in the school year of 19-1-6-47, three women work full time preparing and serving food for 225 pupils each lunch period. The Home Economics teacher is given time in her daily schedule to supervise the entire lunch program. Government aid has made it possible to provide hot lunches at a very reasonable cost to the pupils. In the spring of 1938, upon order of the District Superintendent of Schools, W. Coyle, the com- mon school districts of Clarksville No. 3 and No. 4, were dissolved and annexed to the Richburg Cen- tral School effective July 1, 1938. These two com- mon schools were called the Smith and Bartoo schools, respectively. In July 1938 it was decided to add an agricul- ture department and Vincent Davis was employed as instructor August the lst. Mr. Davis still heads this department in the Richburg Central School. The number of pupils enrolled in the last nine years

Page 9 text:

PROGRESS AT RICHBURG 10. Smalley School The voters of the Cooley branch school district of the Central School decided on August 12, 19-11 to close their school and bring all their pupils to Rich- burg. In August 19-11 it was decided to buy a station Wagon to be used for school business. This pur- chase brought school conveyances to a total of six. It was decided in October 19-11 to purchase a Radio and Recording Victrola which has proven to be very useful, not only for the classroom instruc- tion but also for various other school activities dur- ing the past six years. In September 1942 the Board of Education spon- sored the Boy and Girl Scout Troops. The sponsor- ship of the Boy Scouts still continues but the respon- sibility of the Girl Scouts was recently transferred to the Richburg Literary Club. Now the schoolhouses of three former common school districts lost their complete identity, when the Bartoo school was sold to Delbert LaFeverg the Smith school to Bradley Producing Corporation in September 19-12, and Babcock school to Roy David- son in September 19-13. On August 20, 19-12, upon order of the District Superintendent of Schools, common school district No. -1, known as the Smalley district, towns of Wirt, Cuba, Friendship and Clarksville, was an- nexed to the Richburg Central School. Upon peti- tion by the legal voter of Common school district No. 2, known fS Upper Obi, in the town of Clarks- ville, Superintendent VV. J. Coyle issued an order annexing this school district to the Richburg Cen- tral School on March 1, 19-13. In lune 19-15 it was decided to share with Boli- var Central School the services of Guidance and Agriculture teachers. In July of the same year Donald S. Childs was employed as the first guidance teacher. In August 19-15 the census indicated a large en- rollment in Kindergarten for September so it was decided to run two half-day sessions. This policy has continued to the present time. Our average en- rollment at present is approximately twenty in each session. In October 19-15 the Cooley school house was sold to H. C. Carpenter. In July 19-16 it was decided by the Board to share the services of four teachers with Bolivar, namely: Agriculture, Vincent Davisg Guidance, Donald Childs, Industrial Arts, Leroy Dodsong and Music, Ray Hessg in as much as the sharing of Agriculture and Guidance teachers had worked so well the past year. At a special meeting of the legal voters of the Central district, in September 1946, the Board of Education was authorized to purchase the Sawyer residence in order that a house would always be available for rent by the Principal of the District. As we come to the beginning of 19-16-47 of the Richburg Central School we might hesitate brieHy to see how far we have progressed in the last 20 years. In September 19-16 the Central School had an enrollment of 105 pupils in the high school and 355 in the elementary school making a total of 460 pu- pils instructed by 23 full-time and 5 part-time teach- ers. In the Union Free School in 1926, there were 58 pupils in high school and 100 pupils in the ele- mentary grades with 7 full-time teachers. The following departments have become a per- manent part of the school curriculum over a period of 21 years: Art, Business, Music, Physical, Educa- tion, Home Economics, Health, Dental Hygiene, 11. Upper Obi School