Park Ridge High School - Hoot Yearbook (Park Ridge, NJ)

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Tfze Hoof 7 came obvious that the old building could no longer be used. Accordingly the people of Park Ridge voted forty thousand dollars for a new building to be built at the corner of Main Street and Park Avenue. The land on which the school was to be built was bequeathed to the town by the late Mayor James Leach and was admirably suited to the purpose. The cornerstone of the new building was laid in May, nineteen hundred and eight. The following September the school was completed and the students entered a building which was palatial when compared to the one which they had been occupying. The high school was started in nineteen hundred and six. The first year there were but ten students in attendance, but the school grew rapidly and in four years we had a school giving a full four year course approved by the state. Neighboring towns sent their students to the high school, thus swelling the number considerably. In nineteen hundred and twelve manual train- ing was added to the curriculum and, a yearilater, printing and domestic science. The school build- ing could not accommodate these new branches and therefore a building on Park Avenue was leased. Here the girls in the domestic science de-

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6 The Hoot y History of Park Ridge High School N eighteen hundred and eight the first schoolhouse was erected in Park Ridge. lt was a wooden building of one room, in fact a typical country school. At this time there were about thirty pupils in attendance. About eighteen hundred and fifty-five the old building was found to be too small. After long and heated discussions, the citizens of Park Ridge finally decided to build a new one. The new school altho somewhat larger was still composed of only one room. Shortly after this another room was added and the faculty doubled in numbers: there were now two teachers. The school re- mained the same until eighteen hundred and nine- ty, when it was once more enlarged at a cost of some four thousand dollars. This was only after a hard struggle between the farmers and the city people or commuters who had moved to Park Ridge from New York. The number of students, however, continued to increase and in nineteen hundred and seven it be-

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cY Tie Hoof partment prepared delicious lunches which they sold to the students at a minimum charge. On the upper floor of this new building were spacious apartments which were, and still are, occupied by a large part of the non-resident faculty. The commercial classes were also held in this building. Since it was but two minutes' walk from the main building the students could travel back and forth with but small loss of time. From this time on Park Ridge High School progressed steadily until nineteen hundred and twenty. Her academic standing became higher each year. Her graduates entered the best col- leges and universities in the United States. Many of these higher institutions admitted graduates of Park Ridge Without examination, thus showing that our high standards were becoming universally known. ln athletics also our fame spread through- out the northern part of New Jersey and the southern part of New York. At various times we were Northern Newjersey Champions in foot- ball, basketball, and baseball. DeWitt, star track man at Rutger's was a student of Park Ridge High School. Park Ridge teams came to be feared by small high schools, while the larger ones viewed us with respect and admiration, and knew that