The Birth & Growth of a School 1971 - 1991
Elementary School - Nursery Construction 1974 - 1982

The decision to embark on a 1st grade was natural, inevitable, monumental. Would the barn fall down if we cut through to the adjacent apartment?

Would we find the right teachers? Could we pay them? Where would the sudents come from?

Initially we thought we had seven possible applicants. We were sure there would be more. Master carpenter Royall Moore courageously sawed through the walls of the barn to the apartment, entering our future first grade.

Pioneer Ist grade teacher, a jewel in our own backyard, was Jill Barrett. Jill had grown up less than a mile away and had trained at the New York Steiner School. Other teachers who joined were Pamela Giles - handwork, Honey Sharp French, Almuth Kretz - German, Jean Zay - singing and for eurythmy, Dolores Kaufmann with Shadow Harris at the piano.

On opening day, in September 1974, Jill greeted three first graders Alexander Zay, Stephanie Shapiro and Joshu Spezzard. Kristin Aldrich joined them the next day. Under Jill's zestful tutelage the class grew to 15 by 5th grade. in June 1979, Jill left to raise a family and Torin Finser took over the class from 6th through 8th grade. Our exciting first 8th grade graduation was in 1982.

One of the essential elements in the early days contributing to the health of the school was that we sought not to bite off more than we could chew. Thus, even though we already had a kindergarten and a Ist grade, we promised parents no more than three grades.

In 1975, when Jill went on to 2nd grade, Joseph Savage became our new 1st grade teacher. We have had 16 class teachers since, listed in Appendix A. We have enjoyed a wealth of teachers of special subjects ranging from French, German, Spanish, and Russian to handwork, woodworking, eurythmy, the arts and sports. See Appendix B for list. How we found them or they found us is a fascinating subject in itself. For example, Penelope Nauman, who had been connected with the High Mowing School in New Hampshire, chanced to see our school sign while driving by; she served first in our office and later as Our first 1st grade teacher, Jill Barrett German teacher. In 1978 Michelle Kuzia, in answer to a demand from parents, inaugurated the nursery, a boon from the beginning. When Michelle left in 1982 to return to mothering, Helen Crombie took over. An enchantingly beautiful room was built in 1984 for the nursery and in 1989, when Helen went to teach in Kenya and then Nova Scotia, Michelle returned.

Next: Reflections On The Early Years – The Nursery by Michelle Kuzia