Onteora High School - Tomahawk Yearbook (Boiceville, NY)

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The Board of Education, with District Superintendent Bennett and Supervising Principal Moehle, travelled all over New York State inspecting different types of school architec- ture, studying school interiors, evaluating faults and virtues of existing schools, meeting with administrators and architects. The architect finally chosen, Paul Harbach, has 25 years of professional experience mainly in the field of school design. A simple ceremony marked the laying of the cornerstone on September 18, 1951, opening a new chapter in the transition from dream to reality. This school was one of the first one story K-12 schools in New York State, outstanding because the architect adapted the plan to fit the site with relation to topography. The plan was laid out for grade segregation; separate entrances were included for kinder- garten, grades one through three, four through six, constituting the elementary depart- ment. The high school section was laid out separately and divided into the junior high and high school wings. A modern central school embodies many special features. Connected with the large garage is an apartment for the head custodian so that the school can have 24 hour supervision. Every modern utilitarian concept that can make for a better school plant has been included. The music department adjoins the beautiful auditorium which seats 700. The teachers have separate rest rooms; there is a dark room for photography, a spacious gymnasium with separate locker rooms and showers for boys and girls. There is a small correctional gym; there is an elementary library in addition to the large high school library. Home economics is taught in a modern, tastefully furnished three room apartment including kitchen and bath. A glass enclosed broadcasting room is head- quarters for a public address system which can reach into every classroom. Throughout, the windows are enormously large bringing the daylight inside spacious, well ventilated classrooms. The color scheme everywhere helps to create a restful and relaxing atmosphere. The building, which took two years to construct, is sturdy and practical. It occupied, beside the architects, 4 major contractors, some sixty sub-contractors and the steady supervision of the Board of Education. It is provided with the best in educational supplies and equipment. The core of the school is the 900 students, ranging in age from five to eighteen, who recognize the Onteora Central School as their own, part and parcel of their true American heritage. It is their chance to get that training which will open the gate to higher education and to good working opportunities in our vital democracy. The faculty, with the wise guidance of Principal Roderick Ayer, Assistant Principal Howard Mosher, Guidance Director Charles Traphagen, the Board of Education and the District Superintendent have accomplished the vast project of getting the school going. Its physical maintenance involves the transportation of pupils over 700 miles of road, the operation of the cafeteria to serve over 1,000 lunches, the planning of a twelve year curriculum and putting it into practice, the extra curricular activities, the adult education program; this is no mean achievement. It represents the combined thinking of local educa- tors and those of the state. Its accredited, carefully chosen faculty is a vital, interested one. The faculty members are concerned with their pupils. They know them as individuals as well as in classes. Perhaps the underlying philosophy, so well expressed by the administration, is responsible for this fine achievement. To quote Mr. Ayer: The entire school personnel

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For some time a number of the twenty-five one and two room school houses were al- most empty. Brown Station had one pupil; Brodhead, three; Highmount, five. In con- trast, Olive Bridge and Samsonville were overcrowded with 36 pupils in each. With the opening of the central school in the fall of 1952, their activities became history. The contribution of the one room school house has been significant. It has turned out a steady stream of good citizens to contribute their skills and talents toward making this country great. With the strides in modern education, however, it is now clear that the central school can best bring to the service of the most, the finest in education precepts and personnel. The natural doubts and hesitations that accompany any change came with the first suggestion of the proposed Onteora Central School. Nevertheless, the civic minded and the public spirited saw that individual concerns had to be sacrificed for the benefit of the majority. A very small group of such men and women were fully convinced that the future would be far better for the community's next generation and those to come, if the best in school facilities could be made available. They visited their neighbors over picket fences, while shopping, at social gatherings and public meetings; wherever people came together the problems and virtues of centralization were discussed. District Superin- tendent of Schools Reginald Bennett gave unstintingly of his time and thought as he was called on to answer questions in fire halls and meeting houses in the three towns, or at conferences in Albany and Kingston. Some of the trustees of the one room school houses worked in this same way to support the central school. It is the belief of those closest to centralization that the biggest single factor in bringing it about was the discussion among neighbors, over the years forming an everwidening circle, until their united faith and strength actually laid the foundation of the beautiful and practical Onteora Central School nestling in the valley on the Onteora Trail. The 4th Supervisory District of Ulster County was designated as a potential area for centralization by the Rapp Committee, a joint legislative body set up to create a master plan for centralization in New York State. The resultant Onteora Central District, al- though smaller, is essentially the one proposed by this group. The Commissioner of Education finally set May 21, 1948 for the vote. A large majority favored centralization, and on that same night a board of education was elected con- sisting of 9 members, 3 from each major township. On April 14, 1950, the first bond issue for $1,850,000, and on February 13, 1951, the second one for $300,000, were voted and passed. Preceding each voting there were many meetings, which ultimately gave the people a clearer picture of the problems involved in this large project. The Board of Education, with their district superintendent and their new supervising principal, John Moehle, then concentrated on finding and securing the best location for the new school. The present site was chosen because it is the most central for all the area involved. The added advantage of 35 acres of ground allows for adequate play- ground, sport and gardening facilities. Since this centrally located site is in one of its smallest hamlets every student who attends has to be transported, whereas in most central schools at least a large percentage of the population walks to school. The task of transportation, complicated by mountainous terrain and large area, is being ac- complished by the use of the finest transportation available, through district owned and private carriers. Involved are 11 large buses, and 27 feeder buses supplied by 17 contractors.

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accepts as its duty and obligation the tremendous task of developing and maintaining an educational program which will, in a true sense, effect a community school. The three R's, core of the curriculum in the one room school house, still holds its respected place but there is so much more at Onteora Central. In the kindergarten the five year olds come out of their rugged individualism to discover that there is order and pleasure in being together in a group. As one little five year old announced to her boisterous three year old brother at the dinner table at home, One person speaks at a time. Even the nap is not half bad when taken with some twenty others. In the first grade, that crucial period which really sets the child's attitude toward the next twelve years in school, there is a practical yet tender philosophy; the child is taught to enjoy learning. Happy children learn easily, says the first grade teacher. To this she adds that the child must be given an opportunity to be successful in some under- taking. He needs a success experience. Around the curriculum designated by the state for each class, the faculty introduces projects which will help the pupil enjoy studying and increase his intellectual curiosity. In 8th grade social studies the students concern themselves with the immediate present as well as the historical past. The class writes letters to Kings and Queens, Dictators and Presidents and gets answers. The teacher keeps his pupils aware of their own place in the sun and they work on personal scrap books to tell their life story to a possible future employer. General science includes biology, geology, physics and chemistry. Its staff hopes to graduate better citizens. A few will major in special branches of science, but mort will be consumers in many fields. They will have learned to question and think for them- selves, not to be taken in by scientific misinformation. The various departments cooperate with each other. General science group studying volcanoes builds a volcano. General math and general science work together on practi- cal problems. An Indian village is built in art class. The shops combine with mathematics and science at every opportunity and also with the English Department for writing up projects. These are only a few examples of the interplay of departments to enrich the pro- gram. There is a visual aid program manned by students who bring film and projector to the aid of the classroom and operate the equipment themselves. Recently, with a student operator, the film, OUR TOWN, was shown to 175 English students. The boys and girls are encouraged to find freedom of expression, and to be resourceful in thinking up subjects for speech making on the charming small stage in the English class- room. These talks teach poise, diction, self-confidence. They are also an exchange of ideas. Recently a fifteen year old student held the class silent and enthralled as she made a simple plea to teenagers to go to services in their various churches. The student is encouraged to express himself through writing; by means of dramatics he is helped to self-criticism with the use of the tape recorder, so that he himself can hear his own speech faults and strive to correct them. Three languages are available—French, Latin, Spanish, with German to be added later. Since the United States is part of the all world United Nations and our youth is likely to find itself in such wide areas outside our borders, the interest in the tongues of other nations grows. The cultural advantages of knowing another language are em- phasized.