Columbia High School - Mirror Yearbook (Maplewood, NJ)

Page 30 text:

For the past thirteen years we seniors have gone through many scholastic changes. Our classes have changed and with them our teachers, and with our teachers, our principals. One man and his position in our school system, however, has remained unchanged during this period. This man is Dr. Herbert W. McDavit. Dr. McDavit has been the Superintendent of Schools since 1957. Prior to that year he was principal of Clinton School and Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent. Most of us know Dr. McDavit as only a name which appears at the bottom of important letters. He is, however, far from being just an official name. He is known to be a very warm person with a great fondness for music and for the piano. Dr. McDavit is a man with vision who saw that changes had to be made, and he made them. Columbia, as it exists today, is a reminder of his devotion to the advancement of education. The members of the class of '12 are the best judges of this. Never in the history of Columbia High School have there been so many radical changes in both structure and policy as those we see today. The class of '12 has witnessed the metamorphosis that Columbia has recently undergone. Dr. McDavit was the Superintendent of Schools, but Colum- bia was only one of those schools. The other schools, too, need- ed renovation and innovation. Dr. McDavit made certain that improvements were made in Maplewood Junior High School and in several elementary schools. He traveled to many cities to visit and observe other schools, and as a result many new ideas were introduced to our system. The position of Superintendent of Schools in South Orange- Maplewood is a very attractive one. The individual who will come to this community to fill the position, regretfully being vacated by Dr. McDavit, will Find a completely modern high school, two fine junior high schools and all our elementary schools well on their way to rapidly becoming unsurpassed in this area. All these will be reminders of the dedication and drive of one man: Dr. Herbert W. McDavit.