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WOODBRIDGE
NE
1904
MAIN LIBRORY GEODE - FRADEL.ICI PLAZA WOULDRIDGE, M J. 07095
HISTORY of EDUCATION Woodbridge Township 1664-1964
A HISTORY OF EDUCATION WOODBRIDGE TOWNSHIP 1664 - 1964
Fourth Edition - June 1964 Fifth Edition - June 1965
COLONIA
JUNIOR HIGH
L
027
21 5
0,7
22 O
0 20
AVENEL JUNIOR HIGH
023
24 O
2 , 16
15
C
26
6
O
ISELIN SENIOR HIGH (J.F.K. MEMORIAL)
O
A
O18
ISELIN JUNIORHIGH
WOODBRIDGE SENIOR HIGH 4
9
O 19
WOODBRIDGE JUNIOR HIGH
011
250
O
3
FORDS JUNIOR HIGH
0
014
07
100
WOODBRIDGE TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS 1963-64
8
O
Elementary
Junior High
A
Senior High
O
C HAGAMAN HEIGHTS
12
4,5
ii
FOREWORD
When Miss Martha J. Morrow, Head of the Social Science Department of Woodbridge Senior High School, and I got together early in 1963 to think up some appropriate projects for our students to work on in celebration of the New Jersey Tercentenary, we soon realized that 1964 was the Wood- bridge Township tercentenial year also. It was tentatively decided then that perhaps we would discover an area of research in which we could con- tribute not only to the State celebration but also to that of the Township.
After considerable preliminary exploration, it was noted that little had been written on education in Woodbridge in over a three hundred year period. In fact, it seemed that no one had assembled anything of a scientif- ic nature along these lines during the past quarter of a century. With these facts to go on, Miss Morrow contacted a group of pupils to see if they would like to undertake a somewhat intensive study of recent education in Woodbridge. The response was instant and convincing. With the aid of Mr. Robert Sandor, a teacher in her department, Miss Morrow got the group under way. This booklet is the culmination of a year's hard work of re- search, planning and writing.
To these devoted teachers and students go the sincere thanks of the faculty and pupils of Woodbridge Senior High School for a double tercen- tenary project that brings great credit to Woodbridge Senior High School and proudly salutes the Township of Woodbridge and the State of New Jer- sey for their historic roles in the development of education in the United States.
John P. Lozo Principal Woodbridge Senior High School
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF WOODBRIDGE MAIN LIBRARY GEORGE FREDERICK PLAZA WOODBRIDGE, N. J. 07095
iii
A HISTORY OF EDUCATION WOODBRIDGE TOWNSHIP 1664 - 1964
Original edition prepared by the Class of 1949 Dolores Lott Rosemary McElroy Clara Milko Dorothy Mushinski
Second edition prepared by the Class of 1953 Students of Modern Living I
George Donavan
Lee Frankel
Marjory Lockie
Ethel Muller
Mureen Newberger
Rosemary Nork
Carol Werlock
Third edition prepared by the Class of 1962 Karen Carlsen Susan Jacobs
Fourth edition prepared by the Class of 1964 Co-editors Ruth Anne Baumgartner Jane Goodstein
Staff
Elaine Bohrer
Carol Cohen
Jack Fishman
John Giatropoulos
Marjorie Mazurek - '65
Rita Serotkin
Illustrations
Stanley Dorn - special photos John Giatropoulos - maps Susan Horvath - cover design Donald Mac Argel -'65 graph Typists
Carol Hawkes Casimere Majlowski Mary McCullough Barbara Pease Camille Yockavitch Judy York Kathleen Shine - '66
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1. Administrative Offices of the Woodbridge Board of Education
2. Artifacts --
Mrs. John Dowling
Mrs. Howard Kuhlman
Mrs. Harry Howell
3. Interviews ---
Miss Anna Frazer, Instructor of Music, Woodbridge Township Schools, 1916-1959.
Mr. Nathan Duff, former Township Attorney, represented the munici- pality during the Free School Land Case.
Mr. Henry St. Lavin, Trustee of Free School Land.
Mr. Edward Kilmer, Picture of No. 1 School Tower.
4. Woodbridge Senior High School
Records from Administrative Offices
Records from Guidance Office
Records of artifacts and memorabilia of Social Science Department Office
Records of Library
5. Technical Assistants
Mrs. Annabelle Barney - mimeograph
Mr. Frank Gubernat - photo - repro-technician
Mr. William Mazurek - photostat advisor Mr. Alfred R. Tanzi - art
Special thanks to our two advisors, Miss Martha J. Morrow, Head of the Social Science Department of Woodbridge Senior High School, and Mr. Robert Sandor, member of the Social Science faculty, without whose pati- ence, guidance, steadfast and earnest devotion this task would never have been accomplished. The staff members owe you the deepest gratitude for all of the time you have spent mentoring this contribution to the New Jer- sey Tercentenary.
R.A.B. J.G.
The faculty and students of Woodbridge Senior High School greatly appreciate the assistance rendered by the Woodbridge Township Jaycees in the reproduction of this text.
V
LINDEN
RAHWAY
BWEB
(1860)
EDISON
(1870)
SOUTH BRANCH OF R.
CARTERET (406)
STATEN ISLAND
WOODBRIDGE
RIVER
METUCHEN
(1870)
PERTH AMBOY
ARTHUR
EDISON
(1876)
RARITAN
RARITAN
BAY
Original Boundary
Present Boundary
-
Land Included within Original Boundary
(isi0)
Date of Withdrawal From Original Boundary
Rahway Was Incorporated as a city in 1858
1860
In 1860 It Was Withdrawn From the Original Boundary of Woodbridge by an Act of the Legislature which took the part of Rahway in Middlesex and added it to Union
vi
7714
RIVER
PROLOGUE
The Story of the History of Education Of Woodbridge Township
This history of our school system of 1664-1964 has been written by pupils in accord with the pupil-centered philosophy of our school under the aegis of the Social Science Department of Woodbridge Senior High School. Undertaken originally in the school year 1946-47 to meet a pupil need, it is being revised at this time in recognition of the Tercentenary of both the township of Woodbridge and the State of New Jersey.
Our schools have undergone many changes since the time the first teacher was appointed in 1689. Down through the centuries when the town- ship was less populated and less complex, and when a majority of the people had been lifetime residents of this vicinity, oldsters could tell youngsters what had happened when, who had done what, and how or why things had come to be. However, with the population influx which followed World War II there arose a need for materials with which to inform the pu- pils who had moved newly into the township and who had no knowledge of yesteryear, its history, and its traditions, nor local kin from whom to learn this.
Thus, in answer to this need, the story of the Woodbridge Township School system was written as a history project by several members of the class of '49 and presented in playlet form as part of an Orientation Week Program for freshmen in September, 1948. 1
The cast was composed of members of the senior class who assumed this responsibility as a service to their school. The playlet was in three acts. Act 1-ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS was presented on the first day of Orientation Week, Act 11-THE HIGH SCHOOL, on the second day, Act 111- PUPIL ACTIVITIES, The third day. The programs for the next two days were put on by the band and the cheerleaders purporting to imbue the in- coming freshmen with school spirit.
It soon became evident that this was a very ambitious project to have ready by the first week of school in the fall, in that rehearsals were all but impossible while pupils were beyond contact during summer vacation.
1 q.v. - Social Science Department, Collection of Artifacts and Memorabilia.
vii
Also among the developments and changes in education in Woodbridge High School during the late '40's was the introduction of a core curriculum call- ed Modern Living 1, 11, 111, and IV, planned predominantly for pupils who would terminate their formal education upon graduation from high school but required at the 9th grade level of all entrants. It was decided, there- fore, to include "Orientation to High School" as part of the course of study for Modern Living I.
To provide materials for this study, members of the class of '53 dur- ing their freshmen year revised the original orientation playlet into a three-chapter booklet, thus virtually writing their own text book. This re- mained in use until September, 1959, when the core curriculum called Modern Living was abandoned because the 9th grade curriculum was re- vised to accord with the 6-3-3 type of school organization.
The opening of the new high school in the fall of '56 presented the need for further revision of the story of our schools. This updating was undertaken by members of the classes of '62 and '64 and has been ex- panded into this present documented form as part of our Tercentenary Celebration.
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword - John P. Lozo, Principal of Woodbridge Senior High School iii
Contributors
iv
Acknowledgements V
Maps
Woodbridge Township vi
Woodbridge Township Schools - 1963-1964
ii 24
Free School Lands
vii
Prologue
Table of Contents
ix
I Developments of Woodbridge Schools
1
Elementary
1
High School
19
II Free School Lands
23
III State Department of Education . State Board of Education 29
IV Local Board of Education
32
V Special Education
35
Vocational Schools
35
Classes for the Handicapped; Introduction of School Psychiatrist
36
Summer Schools 37
38
VI Student Activities and Organizations of Woodbridge Senior High School
Epilogue
48
Appendices
50
Alma Mater
5.1
Athletic Championships
52
ix
Table of Contents (continued)
Statistics of Classes 53
Chart I - Statistics of Woodbridge Township School System as of 1964
59
Chart II - Junior and Senior High Schools 60
Chart III - Schools To Be Opened September 1964 61
Chart IV - State Aid For Education in Woodbridge Township 62
Chart V - State Aid for Education 63
Graph - Graduation Classes 1883-1964 64
Bibliography 65
Illustrations
1. Woodbridge-old School No. 1 and "new" School No. 1 9-10
2. Grave of the first child born in Woodbridge 6
3. Desks used in Woodbridge Academy 3
4. Bell atop the tower in old School No. 1 21
5. Fords-old School No. 7 and "new" School No. 25 11-12
6. Chemistry class of 1913 15
7. Woodbridge-old and new Woodbridge Senior High Schools 18
8. Substandard school buildings-Hagaman Heights and Avenel (portables #4and #5)-1964
57-58
9. Scrap drive World War II 42
X
CHAPTER 1 DEVELOPMENT OF WOODBRIDGE SCHOOLS
Woodbridge Township, as you now see it, was not always so heavily populated as it is today. As the population grows, so does a school sys- tem. Let us turn back a few pages of history to learn some facts about the origins of our schools of today.
Woodbridge Township was created by an agreement among Daniel Pierce of Newbury, Massachusetts, Captain Phillip Carteret, governor of the Province New Jersey, and John Ogden and Luke Watson, both of Elizabethtown, on December 11, 1666.1 Included in the agreement was a charter which provided for land six miles square to accomodate more than sixty families. This new township was named for Reverend John Wood- bridge of Newbury, Massachusetts. 2
As you would expect, the early settlers had little time for schooling because of their hard frontier life. Even though one hundred acres were allotted for schools, early education was mainly in the hands of religious sects.3 As the need for education became more apparent, Woodbridge ob- tained its first schoolmaster in 1689, James Fullerton. The second school master in Woodbridge, John Bleacher, was appointed in 1691. He was hir- ed on a trial basis for six months at £ 13.4 The first night school in New Jersey was started by this same Beecher. John Brown of Perth Amboy be- came the third schoolmaster in Woodbridge, after being offered a salary of 124 for one year, starting in 1694. As of June 12, 1695, Brown's salary was to be paid from taxes, but this system proved not too satisfactory due to negligence in the collection of taxes.5 An actual law providing for each town to appoint a schoolmaster and to locate schools was passed in 1695. In 1701, a town meeting was called to consider building a school instead of holding classes in the Meeting House. As a result, the Strawberry Hill was built in 1702. That same year, provision were made for primary edu-
1 Reverend Joseph W. Dally, Woodbridge and Vicinity, p.7.
2 Ibid, p. 6 This charter went into effect immediately after it was granted in June, 1669. The English proprieters Joseph Berkely and George Car- teret did not confim it until Dec. 1672.
3 These one hundred acres later became known as the Free School Lands and at one time the site of the "Poor House Farm".
4 Dally, op. cit. p. 177
5 Ibid, p. 177
1
cation in Rahway.6 Because of British salutary neglect, probably due to the French and Indian Wars, education lost emphasis from 1702 to 1776. The next schoolmaster in Woodbridge was George Eubanks, who was ap- pointed in 1711, for as long as financial support and health allowed him to work. He was granted Tand because of his position. With the coming of 1776, a re-emphasis on education brought about the creation by 1807 of six separate school districts. At this time, because of an increased num- ber of poor people, education was becoming a public problem. At the turn of the eighteenth century, Woodbridge could boast of only two schools. The one at Strawberry Hill and the other at the corner of Bunns Lane and Amboy Road. The teaching at this time was similar to that of New Eng- land with the use of the Horn Book. This book contained the alphabet, and was decorated with woodcuts. It also had rhymes relating to Biblical sub- jects such as:
" 1. Job feels the rod, Yet blesses God.
2. Young Obadias David, Josias All were pious.
3. A dog will bite A thief at night. "7
This, a "Latin Grammar School", was the main type of colonial school. Practical courses such as surveying and navigation were added. In 1769 the first board of education, called the "Trustees of Free Schools" of Woodbridge, was appointed to supervise the schools. The year 1894 herald- ed the use of the current term "Board of Education" with 9 members. 7A
If we may, for interest's sake, let us examine the Woodbridge Acad- emy. This academy, built in 1793-94 was located on the west side of Rahway Avenue approximately opposite 574 Rahway Ave., the present office of Dr. C. H. Rothfus. School was held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and on Saturday mornings. The student enrollment was divided into three groups, according to precosity. The third was the lowest grade and had the smallest tuition. In 1826, Eliza Fitzrandolph paid $125 to attend the Woodbridge Academy.8 A typical schoolday was described in her diary:
6 Dally, op. cit. p. 177
7 John Henry Love, An Educational History of the School District of Wood- bridge, Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1666-1933, p. 27
7A Adapted from materials of Leon McElroy, p. 16.
8 Eliza FitzRandolph, in a letter to Mrs. Marguerite FitzRandolph, quoted by Ruth Wolk, History of Woodbridge, p. 21.
2
Home-Made Triple Desk Used In Woodbridge Acadamy 1793
3
"'After going through the usual exercises of the morning, I took my books and went to the schoolhouse in the yard and studied till the bell rang for my prayers. After breakfast I dressed for the examination, went down to the room to study my ancient geo- graphy with Margaret Edgar. Mrs. Ricord heard our French and ancient geography before we went; at nine we went to Mr. Stry- ker's Seminary, the boys were examined in the morning on Latin, Greek, reading, geography. After dinner Mrs. Ricord heard the Bible class. I attended the afternoon school, they were examined on philosophy, electricity, and after they went through their lessons there were several premiums distributed. Mr. Stryker ad- dressed the children in a very feeling manner. The school was closed with prayer. I studied very little this evening, my whole thought is on tomorrow, thinking it might be the last examination for me, and if I should not pass a good one, I should feel very bad. Some of the young ladies wrote very handsome specimens of poetry this evening. Being very fatigued, also it is very late, I have not time to write any more today".9
The Woodbridge Academy became increasingly dilapidated, and was replaced by the Downtown School in 1851.
A discussion of these early schools would not be complete without mentioning the Elm Tree Institute, later known as the Morris Academy. Erected at 531 Rahway Avenue, it was opened in the 1820's as a high school under the direction of James Stryker. It was equipped with its own library, collection of rocks and minerals, and a large campus. It was im- plied to be a good school because of its variety of courses. One could pur- sue a classical, scientific, or business curriculum, taking preparatory subjects such as Latin, Greek, Hebrew, English, French, Spanish, and all kinds of mathematics, sciences and history. Students were encouraged to attend through advertisements in "The New Jersey Advocate and Middle- sex and Essex Advertiser." An example could be found in the March 28, 1826 issue:
"Woodbridge is one of the most pleasant and healthy villages in the Union. It is situated midway between New Brunswick and Elizabethtown, and presents a variety of easy and agreeable con- nections with the cities of New York and Philadelphia". 10
9 Eliza FitzRandolph, op. cit., p.21.
10 John Henry Love, op. cit., p. 48.
4
In 1865 the Jefferson and Academy school districts merged. This brought about the first graded school, School Number 1, in 1876. The school term was fixed at ten months. Classroom size averaged in the the seventies. Outside pupils were attracted by the high standing of the Woodbridge Graded Schools. The school was divided into the following sections:
1. Grade Senior
4. Grammar Department
2. Grade A
5. Intermediate Department
3. Grade B
6. Primary Department
Discipline was based on a demerit system. 11
The township was pleasantly surprised when a statement was issued in 1870 declaring that all Woodbridge Township schools are tuition free.
"'In 1870 when Raritan Township was organized out of Woodbridge and Piscataway Township, 12 Fairfield Union School District (Fords), Lafayette Union District, and Uniontown District (Iselin) were divided by the new township lines, leaving Fairfield Union School and Uniontown Schools in Woodbridge, and Lafayette Union Schoolhouse in Raritan." 13
Through the reorganization of townships and school districts, in 1869, Woodbridge had thirteen free public schools and two private ones.
1. Rahway Neck (Between Carteret and Rahway)
2. Blazing Star (Carteret)
3. Academy (Banks of Woodbridge Creek near the Woodbridge Lumber Company on Rahway Avenue)
4. Jefferson (Woodbridge)
5. Fairfield Union (South side of King George's Post Road)
6. Bonhamtown
7. Franklin (Metuchen)
8. Uniontown (Near Menlo Park)
9. New Dover
10. Mt. Pleasant
11. Oak Tree
12. Washington (Avenel)
13. Locust Grove (Far edge of township beyond Colonia)
11 Fifteen demerits -- meeting with the principal; twenty demerits - notice to parents; twenty-five demerits - suspension for a week. (Love, op. cit. p. 80).
12 In 1954 Raritan Township's name was changed to the Township of Edison (Manual of Legislature of N.J., ed. by J.J. Gribbins, p.271).
13 Love, op. cit., pp. 136, 137.
5
-
# 4
Grave Of First Child Born In Woodbridge; Trinity Episcopal Church Yard, Woodbridge
6
Two private schools were Mrs. Record's Boarding School for Young Ladies in Woodbridge and the Adrian Institute, located halfway between Wood- bridge and Iselin on New Bloomfield Avenue.
The growth and quality of textbooks paralleled the development of schools. Few textbooks were used before the American Revolution other than the Horn Book and a few primers. Only in 1783 did Noah Webster's spelling book become available. Eight years later, a major step was taken by Jedediah Morse when he wrote the first American geography book. The teaching of English grammar was left to the Horn Book. 14 A favorite arithmetic book was one by Rose of Perth Amboy. The answers were printed in letters instead of figures. The key, given only to teachers, was
"123 4 5 6 7 8 9 0" 15
perthamboy
Reading books by Sanders, graded for grades I to IV, were introduced in 1840.
If you consider the textbooks to be primitive, the colonial school- house was even more so. A typical building was sixteen feet square and made of logs. A fireplace provided the only heat, and the windows were holes covered with oiled paper. The desks were used by the older pupils only, and benches were provided for the others. Corporal punishment was the accepted means of discipline. The rod was never spared.
In order to maintain the chronology that is so important in understand- ing this early history of our schools, mention should be made of the follow- ing dates in an organized manner.
1776-No provision for education in the New Jersey State Constitution.
1816-First effort to provide funds from the State to establish free schools.
1820-Tax by township used only for the education of poor children.
1829-State law that teachers had to be licensed by the township school committee.
1845-Township law provided for a separate school for Negroes in Rahway District number I.
14 Old timers might be interested to know that there were no textbooks on penmanship in the eighteenth century. (Love, op. cit. Ch 6).
15 Ibid., p. 54.
7
1846-A State School Act provided that school districts were to be in- corporated by taking a name and seal and stating their boundar- ies. After being incorporated, the schools, by a two-thirds vote, could raise any money needed for maintenance, land, or build- ing to elaborate further:
' 'The first district to take advantage of this law was School District #1, which was incorporated April 19, 1852, under the name of 'The Colombian School. The section of the township now known as Colonia caused its School District #3 to be incorporated April 22, 1854 as 'Washington School'. The school district at Fords, covering the territory from Fords to Bonhamtown and from Fords to the Perth Amboy line, was incorporated March 15, 1858, as the 'Fairfield Union School'. On January 5, 1859, School Districts 11 and 12 in the north- west section of the township were incorporated as the ‘Oak Tree School'. The uptown school district of Woodbridge, how- ever, was not incorporated until May 24, 1860, when it was designated 'Jefferson School District'. The Iselin or ' Union- town School District' was incorporated April 6, 1861. The 'Washington School District' No. 13, formerly #3 was re- incorporated April 4, 1864. 'Star School District' #2, for the Carteret, Port Reading and Sewaren district, was incorpor- ated in 1865."16
1848-State law provided for the first town school superintendent to take the place of the township school committee.
1866-1867-The position of school superintendent was abolished be- cause of ineffectiveness and great turnover in number of super- intendents. 17
1866-The beginning of the State Board of Education.
May 14, 1867-Jefferson School closed because of insufficient funds. This school was located on the south side of Main Street on what is now Columbus Avenue. Later it moved to a location opposite the Memorial building.
1867-State legislation recasting the school system and providing for county superintendents.
16 McElroy, op. cit., p. 15.
17 In 1867 there were two hundred fifty such superintendents in New Jer- sey (Love, op. cit., p. 57.)
8
Woodbridge-Old School # 1
-
9
Woodbridge-New School # 1
-
10
Fords-Old School # 7
12
FC _3000円
2AL
11
-
-------
--
-
--
-
---
Fords-Newer School # 25
12
1871-State Law providing for the schools of New Jersey to be free.
November 8, 1876-a clock to be placed in the tower of #1 school was bought for $600 from E. Howard and Company, a New York factory. The striking apparatus of the clock was operated through a hammer which struck from the outside of a bell. This bell weighs 1,500 lbs. and cost $25,000. The inscription on it is: "School District #24, A.D. 1876. C.W.Boynton, President : Howard Valentine, D.C., William H. Berry and Charles Campbell, Trustees. Wisdom is better than gold." *
1884-State Compulsory Education Law.
1894-Uniting of the many small schools into the township under one administration.
1894 -- At the time School #1 was built, there were seven other schools which were thereafter known by numbers as follows:
1876-#1-Woodbridge Built 187618
1922-#2-Blazing Star (not to be confused with present #2 at Colonia)
#3-Rahway Neck (Not to be confused with present Strawberry Hill)
#4-Washington (located at Six Roads the intersection of highways 27 and 35, Rahway.) 19
#5-Locust Grove (not to be confused with present #5 in Avenel)
1916-#6-Iselin 1916-#7-Fairfield (Fords)
This school was destroyed by fire in 1861, and re- built in 1862. To make room for the new school in 1916(#7) it was removed to a site across King George's Road.
1906-#8-Keasbey
1897-The high school course was increased from three to four years. 1900-Port Reading School #9 was opened.
1900-John Love was appointed the first superintendent of all Wood- bridge Schools.
18 #1 is no longer used as a school. In 1961 it became the Woodbridge Township Administration Building.
19 The Washington School was sold for $75. when the Avenel School was built. Later it was torn down.
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