If you read me fairly regularly, you know I attended Vernondale Elementary School in Millcreek, PA, grades K-6.
I've written a little about Vernondale, most recently here : I Remember Jack >
I tried to find out more about the school, maybe an Erie Daily Times newspaper article. I didn't find that, but did find this, which has a few pictures and lots of architectural trivia:
You can tell by the way it's written that the underlying message is "we need to update or replace this school," and some one or group is laying the foundation for discussions on contracts, jobs, class size, and other things that were as important 40 years ago as they are today.
Vernondale may not be modern, but it doesn't have to be modern to be a good school. Millcreek Intermediate was "modern" at the time I attended and it felt like a prison. (You half expected to see armed guards patrolling the circular terrace that runs around the perimeter inside. Most of the rooms felt like they were leftovers from the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey.)
Nothing lasts forever, and Vernondale will be replaced someday, but not by people that taught or attended there. It'll be replaced by people who don't share the memories it holds.
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I have a small piece I wrote years ago about sitting in one of the class rooms and looking at the flag flapping out front in the courtyard. I'll see if I can find it.
The picture at right shows Vernondale today from the street. They've added additional parking over the years. When I was a boy, there was just a U-shaped driveway for the buses and a small lot for maybe 20 cars.
My homeroom was never on the side of the building that faced the flagpole, but occasionally for some reason I was in one of those classes in the morning and I was able to watch the janitor raise the flag as the carabiners clanked against the pole and the rope arced in the wind until he tightened it.
[2013-03-21]
More to say.
c0
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