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Community Invitation for June 25th.

Watkins Glen Middle School ...

A Look Back --- A Look Forward: Last in a series

By Brian J. O'Donnell

* In September of 2010 the Board of Education began looking at the possible closing of the Middle School and the consolidation of the District onto one campus. Superintendent TOM PHILLIPS, leading the Board on the annual facilities tour, urged the Board to consider such a plan. The idea came from the District's five-year BUILDING CONDITION SURVEY which recommended substantial upgrades and improvements to all District facilities (at a cost in excess of $19 million). The Board of Education Facilities Committee of JOE FAZZARY, GLORIA BRUBAKER and TOM RICHARDSON was charged with examining the initial idea and coming up with a recommendation. (Superintendent of Buildings & Grounds MIKE DE NARDO gathered the facts & data for this initial BUILDING CONDITION SURVEY. Two major facts -- among many -- influencing the Superintendent's recommendation were: student enrollment (decreased from 1,450 students in the 1992-1993 school year to just 1,250 students for the 2010-2011 year) and the cost factor of approximately $900,000 annually to maintain the Middle School in its current condition.

* In October the Board of Education approved a resolution to hold a VOTER REFERENDUM (in December of 2010) to establish a CAPITAL RESERVE FUND (to be utilized either to address the BUILDING CONDITIONS SURVEY or look toward a consolidated campus.

* In November of 2010 the Board of Education gave approval to establish an ADVISORY COMMITTEE composed of local residents to study District facilities and make a recommendation to the Board FACILITIES COMMITTEE. Those ADVISORY COMMITTEE Members were: BRIAN GARDNER, ANN TUTTLE, KYLE TUTTLE, AMEDEO FRABONI, JUDY PHILLIPS, JOHN TERRY, DOMINICK SMITH, DAVID WAITE, KEN WILSON, ELIZABETH DUANE, HEATHER BILINSKI-BRYERTON & BETTY SCHIMIZZI. School Superintendent TOM PHILLIPS and Buildings & Grounds Chief MIKE DE NARDO co-chaired this Committee. It was stressed that the Committee's role was purely "investigative and advisory" to recommend the best course of action for the District. This ADVISORY COMMITTEE first met on November 17, 2010 with a follow-up meeting set for December 8th. A 3rd meeting was held on January 19, 2011. At this 3rd meeting the ADVISORY COMMITTEE reached a UNANIMOUS decision to recommend to the Board Facilities Committee "that the closing of the Middle School take place and that consolidation into one campus is the best solution for the District." On February 23, 2011 the ADVISORY COMMITTEE met one final time to review their presentation to the Board and selected ANN TUTTLE & JOHN TERRY to serve as spokespersons for the presentation. The date of March 21, 2011 was set to present their recommendation at a Board workshop. In April the full Board of Education accepted the ADVISORY COMMITTEE'S recommendation and authorized the Superintendent to work with faculty/staff and architects to develop the consolidation plan. I would also note the long hours and effort Business Manager GAYLE SEDLACK put into gathering and disseminating all the financial data and statistics which were so valuable to the ADVISORY COMMITTEE, the BOARD FACILITIES COMMITTEE and the BOARD OF EDUCATION. She also accompanied SUPERINTENDENT PHILLIPS to various Building Faculty Meetings and was a valued resource at Board Meetings & Workshops.

While impossible here to outline everything discussed by the ADVISORY COMMITTEE, suffice to say their discussions centered around the pros and cons of consolidation with a great deal of emphasis upon financial and enrollment statistics and personnel and program thoughts as well.

* On December 13, 2011 District Residents gave their approval to the Consolidation Plan via formal VOTE and the Plan became a reality. A total of 612 residents voted with the final results being: YES 408; NO 204

* It was determined that the transition to full consolidation should be as follows:
-- for 2012-2013 school year: Elementary School would be Pre K-Grade 5 facility while the Middle School would be for Gr. 6-7-8 students;
-- for 2013-2014 school year: Elementary School would be Pre K-Grade 6 facility while the Middle School would be for Gr. 7-8 students;
-- for 2014-2015 school year: FULL CONSOLIDATION onto the single campus: Pre K-Gr. 6 at the Elementary School and Gr. 7-12 at the High School

* On Wednesday evening, June 25, 2014, a special ceremony will be held at the Middle School to commemorate 85 years of service, tradition and service to our community. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. and include a WELCOME from SUPERINTENDENT PHILLIPS followed by a short history of the Building by me and an introduction of former Principals and the current Principal, Kai D'Alleva. At the conclusion of the presentation refreshments will be available in the Lobby and the audience will have the opportunity for self-guided tours.

So:-----

* from Board of Education President WARREN W. CLUTE (1929-30) to Board of Education President MICHAEL MYERS to...
* Supervising Principal JOHN A. BEERS (1929-30) to current Superintendent of Schools THOMAS J. PHILLIPS to...
* Principal CHARLENA CURRY BROWN (1st Middle School Principal) to Principal KAI D'ALLEVA, the current building Principal, to...
* Building Secretary JANE KNAPP (the 1st Middle School Secretary) to MARILYN CROSS, the current building Secretary, to...
* JOHN GEORGE (Clerk of the Works in 1929), then Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, through MIKE DE NARDO and JERRY HARRIGAR (current Superintendent of Buildings & Grounds) and their staffs who have kept the facility in the very best of condition to...
* MYRTLE MILLER (School Nurse Teacher) & HELEN FROST to BETTY LOU PEARSALL and so many others who have cared for our students' health needs to...
* Past and current faculty/staff and ALL those in between as well as literally thousands of students from Kindergarten through Grade 12.....
.....this building has been a major part of the HISTORY & TRADITION that is WATKINS GLEN!

We are most fortunate to have a LIVING CONNECTION to the former K-12 concept at what is now known as the Middle School. Among them are:
* FRANK STEBER * DOMINICK GIAMBO * MILLIE DENSON * JERRY GREGORY
* JOHN VONA * JANET STAMP * DOROTHY COGSDILL * MAX MOORE
* ANN WOODWORTH MEEHAN

We lost some teachers while still in service. Among were:
ANNA MAE ORGILL, JANET SIMIELE and JANE BURRIS

Among our longest serving faculty members -- two who lived and worked through all three tragic fires (1897, 1898 & 1929):
* ELIZABETH MALONEY (50 years service 1890-1940) Elementary Teacher
* KATHERINE WHIPPY (48 years service 1887-1935) Elementary and Gr. 7/8 Teacher
* JOSEPHINE CURRY (47 years service 1908-1955) Elementary Teacher

Currently among the longest serving faculty are Middle School Teachers:
* KAREN HANSEN * BECKY SUE BIANCO

Additional (current) Middle School Teachers I worked with as Principal are:

* JIM MURPHY * CRAIG LATTIN * RICK PETTET * DIANE WOOD

In conclusion, at the risk of leaving someone off this list (my sincere apologies in advance) I'd like to mention some of those caring/giving people it was my pleasure to know & serve with who retired from or moved on from the Watkins Glen Middle School:

ROSS LYON, RALPH & MARY LOU VAN BUREN, CONNIE GOOLLEY, MARILYN DENSON, ALICE LEARN, JOHN & CHRIS UPDYKE, BILL HENDERSON, STEVE LO PRESTI, FRED TROY, RORY & LORRAINE KAMINSKE, DAVID VAN DYKE, IRENE BURGESS, DICK SCHIED, ANDREA HOLMES HEICHEL, JACK TELECH, NAN HANLEY, SANDY BERRY, MARCY ERGOTT, DAYLE SLUSSER, KAY GOOSSEN, LUCY SOPER, RON PIERCE, JO ANN AXTELL, KAREN ROWE, TOM & CHRIS OMIATEK, NANCY HOOVER, MICHELLE LA FORTY, BOB GEHR, GEORGE MILLER, HAZEL VERDEGAAL RAPLEE, JULIA RAFFERTY, RUTH GIVIN, CAMILLE MEEK, JOHN STEVENSON, LINDA FAZZARY, PETER PEVO, JEANNETTE STEPHNO, JEAN & ERNIE TOLMAN, RITA BOND, GRETCHEN PRATT, GRACE CHIACCHIERINI, LOLA ANNE LUTOMSKE, RHODA GIVIN, NEIL PATTERSON, KENT FITCH, BERT SALMIRS, HELEN PURVIS, JOAN STRONG, HARRIETT MCCORMACK, MEG BARTOW, LOIS CUTTON, JOAN GASCON BOB WALKER, RUTH SHEWAN, JOE & LISA TOBIA, MIMI HEHER, SHARON ISLEY HERZIG, LIBBY LICHT, YVONNE BURT, KATHY WINN, ALTHEA LUGEN, MARIA ALBERT, JOHN NIHILL, PETE GALATIS...

.....and some who got their start at the Middle School before moving on to other District schools:
CYNDY WOOD, ELAINE WOJTUS, LORRAINE AUGUSTINE, SHARON CLARK,
KATE LA MOREAUX, TRACIE MC ILROY...

...and some who stayed only a little while...
MARGARET WOODARD, ALICE HALL NASH, SUE NYE, CATHY COOPER, JEAN VANDER VLIET, GAIL UTTER, GOLDY COYKENDALL, GEORGE MC GONIGAL, SALLY BROWN, MARY KAY CHARLETON, MICHELE KIMBALL, DIANE LA RUE, BETTY CALHOUN, GLORIA BRUBAKER

To ALL the faculty/staff listed above (again with apologies to anyone I missed) please know that your service, your efforts, hard work, time and talent have been noticed and are appreciated. YOU are a major part of the history and tradition that is the Watkins Glen Central School District.

Again, this has not been a definitive history of the Middle School (or the District facility from 1929-1953 & 1969) nor a complete listing of all those who are such an important part of our history and our memories -- but I do hope I have mentioned some things you had not previously known... and... other events and names that have brought a smile to your faces and perhaps a warm feeling to your hearts. While we will miss the building, we will always have those memories and warm feelings!

Photos in text:

Top: The Watkins Glen Middle School's 1929 cornerstone.
Middle: Jane Knapp, the first Watkins Glen Middle School secretary.
Bottom: Green marble drinking fountain in back of the Middle School auditorium. The fountain is being moved to the new consolidated campus.

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To read Part 1 of this series, click here.

To read Part 2 of this series, click here.

To read Part 3 of this series, click here.

To read Part 4 of this series, click here.

To read Part 5 of this series, click here.