Hubbard School; Mrs LePoidevan's 6-8 class --1931-32The present rumors that Plainfield's School System is going to be change to a K-8, 9-12 format reminds me of a truism; "the more things change the more they remain the same". Or better said "Change goes in circles" and "History repeats".
When I was a schoolboy, Plainfield used the K-8, 9-12 format. The "Junior High" was unknown. This system remained in effect until the mid 50s when my older girls were attending school. That was the time when Hubbard and Maxon Schools were designated as Junior High Schools.
High School was now a 10-12 grades school. with Hubbard and Maxon becoming the 7-9 intermediate grade schools. The rest of the system was K-6. There was a period when 9th grade was held in the 'old-new" High School building extension. The original Building facing 9th street and the park has been replaced by a parking lot.
About the picture! This was "special accelerated class" to cover the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades in two years. I don't know if it was ever repeated but it must have been a success. This is why many of us were only 16 when we graduated and went off to college.
The good looking kid on the extreme left is yours truly, the beautiful brunette to his left is Shirley Schwartz. I will not swear as to the rest because of picture quality. but I think the front row from left to right is;Art. Garlick, Harriet Kunzman, ? The blond boy in the sweater behind me is Donald (Boxcar) Smythe. If I find the time and the original I will try to identify the rest.
(8/4/09) To the right of Harriet is Earl Hinkel and behind his right shoulder , Milton Lang. Between Don Smythe and Shirley inthe row behind from left to right; Virginia Mechanik, Bill Dixon, Walter Glenny. Roberta Joseph is far right holding a doll.
Doctor,
ReplyDeleteI see that your class picture was taken by Paul Collier. I have some old Muhlenberg pictures taken by Paul (I knew his widow pretty well), that you might want to use and comment on. Please contact me at resurgam01@aol.com if you are interested. Did you know Dr. Bishop? My Mother worked for him before WW2.
Bill Garrett
I wish class sizes were loike that today my sons class has 45 in it!
ReplyDeleteDoc, I have seen you once in public, but I picked you out immediately. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteRebecca
I grew up in Plainfield in the 50's, 60's and 70's. I'm trying to remember which schools I attended for which grades. I'm unclear about the middle school years. I distinctly remember Hubbard for elementary through at least 4th grade. I know that Cedarbrook existed, but I think I stayed at Hubbard. And my recollection is that Maxson was only a junior high (grades 7, 8 and 9.) I went to PHS starting in 10th grade. My brother is insisting I went to Cedarbrook for some part of that. Do you have dates for the transition? I graduated from PHS in 1965. Thank you for your good memory and access to archives! Stay well.
ReplyDeleteTo 10/20/09 In the 50s we lived on Kenyon Ave, Cedarbrook School started directly behind our property.It was k-6 and Evergreen served as 7-8. About 1957 the Middle Schools-Hubbard & Maxon were established. Pupils livingh east of Central Ave went to Evergreen and after the K-6,7:9, 10:12 setup was instituted the middle school grades west of Park went to Hubbard.
ReplyDeleteIf you went to Hubbard for the lower grades that is where you were in middle school.
You were 30 years behind me in High School.
dear doc,
ReplyDeleteindeed i was! were you a practicing physician in plainfield? our family saw dr. crane. was he a colleague of yours? does the name ring a bell?
Norm Crane was a half generation or more older than I. He was a hughly respected Pediatrician and one of the best in his specialty along with DR. Lathrop. Yes I practiced from the end of WW2 until 1941-Internal Medicine.
ReplyDelete