A Look Back at the History of Our Township Schools

by Bernadine Elick

The history of the Wilkes-Barre Township would not be complete without going back and taking a look at the educational system of yesterday and up to the present.

The first school in Wilkes-Barre Township was erected in 1780. It was located on the east side of public square. (At one time, the township included the entire area from the Susquehanna River to the Lehigh River.) The second school was erected on the plains near the Courtright residence and the third school building was on Dr. Covell’s farm near the old Wilkes-Barre railroad depot.
By 1802, there were a total of three teachers, Asher Miner, a Mr. Parmaly and William Wright.

In 1865, the Toll Gate School on East Northampton Street was erected. This was the first school located in the present Wilkes-Barre Township. The school derived its name from the tollgate on the Wilkes-Barre and Easton Turnpike which was located near where the school building stood.

In 1870, the Green School building was erected on the corner of Hemlock and Chestnut Streets on the site of the present American Legion Post 815 home.
Until 1889, the educational system of Wilkes-Barre Township was incorporated in that of Wilkes-Barre Borough and then Wilkes-Barre City. As a city, Wilkes-Barre had enlarged its boundaries absorbing part of the township as well as the whole Borough of Wilkes-Barre.

For school purposes, the remainder of the township was included in two of the three independent school districts provided for by the Act of Incorporation of the City of Wilkes-Barre on May 4, 1871.

The new school districts were: First District, which consisted of city wards 1, 2, 6 and 9 and the remaining north portion of the township. Township schools that were located in the first district were the Green (or Chestnut Street) School and the Baltimore School. The Second District, consisted of city wards 13, 14, 15 and the remaining south portion of the township, which also included the Toll Gate School and the Blackman’s School on Nicholson Street. The Third District, consisted of city wards 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12.

In 1883, the Baltimore No. 3 School was built near the present Mundy Street. The Blackman school was constructed around 1887.

A proposition to annex the township by the city of Wilkes-Barre failed in 1888.
On May 23, 1889, an Act of the State Legislature provided any existing city of the third class to become a single school district. A second Act which passed a week later repealed that section of the Wilkes-Barre City Charter which provided for the establishment of three school districts and consolidated the schools of the 15 wards of the city, but excluded the township portions of the First and Second Districts.

In 1896, there were 10 teachers in the schools of the township. The four male teachers received a salary of $60 a month and the six female teachers received only $45. The following year, there were 11 teachers, 11 school rooms, with 361 male students and 165 female students attending school.

On January 4, 1901, the Baltimore School was destroyed by fire and in 1905, the old Green School was torn down to make way for the erection of the Chestnut Street School.

By 1908, the township had the following schools and teachers: Empire Building (a.k.a. Ash Street or White School) with a principal and four teachers; Blackman School (Nicholson St.), a principal and three teachers; Baltimore School, principal and one teacher; Stanton Hill School, a principal only; Green School (or Chestnut Street), a principal and one teacher; and Toll Gate School had a principal only.
Twenty-five years after the Blackman Street School was built it was destroyed by fire on July 30, 1912, at a loss of approximately $12,000. A new school was erected a year later.

In 1914, the Wilkes-Barre Township High School was built on Casey Avenue. It was a terra-cotta two story building with a seating capacity of 500. It had an auditorium, gym and 13 classrooms. The school was built at a cost of approximately $100,000.

In 1928, the high school became a first class school. The first principal was Edmund Wicht who left a year later to become the Secretary of the P.I.A.A. Frank Rutkoski served as principal from 1929-30. In 1930, Daniel Ward became the school’s principal until he retired on October 15, 1962.
There were seven public school buildings in the township: Nicholson Street, Toll Gate, Ash Street, Baltimore, Stanton Hill, Chestnut Street and the township high school.

The only parochial school in the township was St. Joseph’s School, which was built around 1909. The school, which also included the Sisters of Mercy convent, consisted of four large classrooms for students from first to eighth grade. There were two grades taught in one classroom. The school was closed in June 1971 when the catholic schools in the area were consolidated.

In 1936, there were 61 teachers in the public school system in the township. On August 31, 1936, the Nicholson Street School was damaged by fire. The school was in session at the time, however, no children were injured.

In April 1937, the Teacher’s Tenure Act of PA was enacted after years of untiring work by several Luzerne County educators under the leadership of Miss Barbara McGlynn, a township teacher. For her efforts in securing the passage of this Act, Miss McGlynn was given a "victory dinner" by all the teachers in the county. She later became president of the Pennsylvania State Teachers’ League and a national vice-president of the National Federation of Teachers. Ms. McGlynn passed away on January 4, 1965.

On March 13, 1940, the original high school building was destroyed by fire. Although the building had originally cost $100,000, it was only insured for $70,000. The children and teachers finished their school year by attending one of the remaining school buildings in the township on half day sessions.

The new high school building was dedicated on September 6, 1941 at a cost of approximately $129,000. The new two story building accommodated 14 classrooms, a combined auditorium/gym with a seating capacity of more than 800, library, shop, home economics room, boys and girls locker rooms, as well as offices for the board of directors, supervising principal and principal.

In 1942, the Chestnut Street and Stanton Hill Schools were both closed due to small enrollments. The children from this area attended either the Ash Street, Toll Gate or Nicholson Street schools. In July of 1946, the Baltimore School was closed and the students from this area were bused to the Ash Street School.

On October 1, 1946, one of the first teacher strikes in Pennsylvania occurred when all 40 teachers of the township school district refused to report to work. Because of the financial situation in the school district, which was heavily dependent upon the coal companies for tax revenue, teachers were forced for months to borrow money from a local bank, pay charges, plus interest on the future ability of the school district to repay them their back wages. The teachers went along with this arrangement of borrowing on their pay until the bank refused to continue this procedure, precipitating the "strike." Mr. Raymond Horan was president of the teachers’ organization and on October 7th, all the teachers returned to their teaching duties after the school board paid each teacher a month’s back wages and agreed to make a serious attempt to pay all other back wages.

In the years following WW II, with the decline in student enrollment and the closing of several elementary schools, many teachers were furloughed.

The senior graduating class of 1949, consisting of 94 students, was the largest class to graduate in the school’s history.

On August 26, 1958, the Toll Gate and Nicholson Street Schools were also closed due to declining enrollment. This left the township school district with only two schools remaining, Ash Street Elementary School and the township junior/senior high school. The last principal at the Toll Gate School was Chester Strobel, while Harry May was the principal at the Nicholson Street School at the time of closing. Mitchell J. Czoch became the principal of the junior/senior high school in October of 1962.

In 1966, the Law for the Consolidation of Pennsylvania Schools went into effect. Smaller school districts were being consolidated into one large school district.

On January 2, 1969, Mr. John Skuba retired as Supervising Principal and Mitchell Czoch then became the new Supervising Principal, while Joseph P. Reilley became the principal of the township junior/senior high school.

The class of 1971 was the last class to graduate from the township school district. In July of 1971, the township school district became a part of the Wilkes-Barre Area School District and the class of 1972 was the last class to graduate from the township junior/senior high school. This was the first and last class to graduate from Wilkes-Barre Township in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District.

On September 3, 1972, the township junior/senior high school then became a junior high school encompassing students from the township, Laurel Run, Bear Creek, Buck Township and the east end section of the city. Township senior high students were bused either to Coughlin or G.A.R. Memorial High School for their remaining three years of schooling.

The Ash Street Elementary School was closed in June of 1977, and township elementary school children then attended the newly-built Heights-Murray Complex. The Blackman and Stanton Hill elementary students attended Boyd Dodson Elementary School, while students from the Wilkeswood area attended the Dan Flood Elementary School in Wilkes-Barre. Philip Walsh was the last principal at the Ash Street Elementary School.

The junior high school was closed by the Wilkes-Barre Area Board of Directors, amid strong township protest in 1991. Township students were now being transferred to G.A.R. Junior/Senior Memorial High School in Wilkes-Barre. At the time of closing of the junior high school Frank Nockley was the principal.

Of the three former public township schools still remaining, the Toll Gate School was utilized as the township’s municipal building for many years and it is presently a privately-owned apartment complex. The Ash Street School was also utilized as the township’s municipal building prior to the building of the new municipal building on Watson Street in 1979, a recreation center, play school, and District Magistrate Court 11-3-07 before the building was condemned last year with plans for demolishing the structure sometime in the near future. The former township junior/senior high school is presently used by the Wilkes-Barre Area School District as a supply warehouse, transportation and building/grounds department. The former St. Joseph’s Parochial School is presently used for religious instruction for the children of the parish, a play school and a doctor’s office.

Of all the former elementary and secondary schools, prior to the jointure of Wilkes-Barre Area School District, the township is the only municipality not to have even one school operating in the district for its students. Even though our township schools are no longer a part of our educational system, the students who attended them will have lasting memories that will live on forever with them.

The wheels of history are really strange, since ironically, the Wilkes-Barre Area School District, which has succeeded the former township school district, now encompasses an area which includes nearly all of the original Wilkes-Barre Township back in 1774.

Going Back in Time

Andrew Fetchik, who resides in Kingston, New York contributed this picture of his Nicholson Street School first grade class of 1926. He was able to identify fourteen of the thirty-one students. They are: first row, unknown, Louise Lombardelli, unknown, unknown, Mary Bala, Elizabeth Warneski, unknown, unknown, Elizabeth Palfy.

Second row: unknown, Victor Mehans, John Danello, Andy Fetchik, Frank Ezock, Leo Nemetz, Frank Zabofski, unknown, unknown. Third row: unknown, John Orvek, unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, Anthony Marconi. Fourth row: Miss Barbara McGlynn, teacher; Joseph Shuboney, John Borum, unknown, unknown.

Miss McGlynn was instrumental in getting the Teacher’s Tenure Act of Pennsylvania in April of 1937 passed. Teacher tenure took educators from the realm of political pawns. She later became president of the Pennsylvania State Teachers’ League and a national vice president of the National Federation of Teachers.

The Nicholson Street School was first erected in 1887, but was destroyed by fire on July 30, 1912. The school was rebuilt in 1913.

The school was again damaged by fire on August 31, 1936 when school was in session. There were no reported injuries.

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