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Walmo School (Neshannock Public School) - Neshannock Twnp PA

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The four-room Neshannock Public School, usually called the Walmo School, was opened on East Maitland Lane in September 1923. It handled students in grades 1-8. It was dedicated during a ceremony on Friday, October 23, 1923. Due to severe overcrowding in the township a four-room addition was completed in August 1949. The building was re-designated as the Walmo Elementary School in 1955. It remained in service for over five decades until it was closed in June 1977. (c1925) Full Size


I believe this photo depicts a first grade class at Walmo Elementary School in 1966. The teacher is Mrs. Mary Bratchie Patton. (1966) (Photo posted on Facebook page of “Walmo Elementary School”)



After the Walmo School closed in 1977 it subsequently served as the home for several specialty schools and organizations in the coming years. In 2005 the township sold the building and it became the new home of the Cray Education Center, an alternative school for troubled teenagers. (Sep 2013) Full Size


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The former Walmo School on East Maitland Lane (seen at bottom of photo) is now home to the Cray Education Center. (c2012) Full Size

Comments

  1. Have old 8mm movies of the halloween parades we all had in the ’50’s when I attended there with my brother and sister.

  2. My brother and I both attended Walmo back in the early 50’s. His 1st grade teacher was Mrs. Foster.

  3. I did 1st,2nd,3rd grade there.If you look at front of building on left two basement windows,was Mrs.Clark’s 3rd grade.It was in that room that we were told President Kennedy was killed by Custodian Mr. Johnson who came around to each room,I guess we did not have a P.A. system?That basement room had white wooden steps going up to window for fire escape,also was used as shelves for books ect.

  4. I was also in Mrs. Clark’s classroom when we were told about the President’s assassination.
    The fire drills were memorable. We were required to follow Mrs. Clark up wooden steps and out one of those windows.

  5. There were two cement curved benches in the middle of front yard and some bushes.Recent pics show it is gone along with Bus Garage

  6. My dad, Chris Halackna, was a very proud pupil in the first classes ever conducted at Walmo School in 1925. He lived off of Falls Avenue / Coaltown Hill. While he was born in 1918, his sibling were older. They studied in a 1 room schoolhouse right there in the front / side parking lot of the Hilander Theatre plaza. His dad, Lewis, b. 1879, was part of the effort of bringing Coaltown kids to school there on East Maitland Lane. Granddad Lewis ran a team of 4 horses and a wooden cart, hauling as many kids as could find a place to sit, covered with woolen blankets in the wintertime. Mostly from farms at the time, the community was so proud of its new BRICK school. My brothers and I then went there in the late 50s and early 60s. My first grade teacher in ’61-‘62 was the very lovely Mrs. Carol Stump. I remember hearing tests, the reading skill series, Mr. Johnson the janitor and the playground’s wonderfully high slide for which we brought pieces of wax paper to “go faster!” The monkey bars proved treacherous to those few who each year fell and broke arms or collar bones. I’m so glad that the building remains and was not torn down for being antiquated. I’ll bet all of us have excellent memories of those early days of our lives !

  7. I went to Walmo for first, second and third grade. Mrs. Alfred, Mrs. Moore and maybe Mrs. Clark. I remember that basement classroom vividly. Also remember the school fair with the doll show and the playground.

  8. I went to Walmo for grades 1, 2 & 3. My teachers were Mrs. Alfred, Mrs. Amos and Mrs. Clark. Along with the memories of President Kennedy and spending time on the steps in Mrs. Clark’s room, I remember exiting for fire drills up the steps and out of the window. The playground in the back was were I played Little League baseball and climbed the monkey bars. My Boy Scout troop 43 met in the gym.

  9. I was there in 1959-60-61. Miss Raab in first grade, Mrs. Hennon in 2nd, and Mrs. Wells in third (in the basement). I remember in 2nd grade I was playing at recess and fell into the open sewer that ran along the east side. Janitor had to take me home. In first grade I knocked myself out on the monkey bars which were there for many years.

  10. I started grade school at Walmo in 1952 and spent my first 5 years there. My teachers in chronological order were Mrs. Patton, Mrs. Workman, Miss Turner, Mr. Fusco, and Mrs. Workman.

    I remember jax and marble tournaments in the gym. I also remember Officer Ball, a state policeman, who talked to us often about rules and laws.

    My older sister, Beth, was the bell ringer, a coveted position and task. She rang to signal the beginning and end of the school day.

    Janie Dayton and I were milk money collectors when we were in fifth grade. What an honor! We received an award, “N” letter at the end of the year.

    In those days, the school bus garage was a polling place where everyone gathered to vote. My brother and I tagged along with our parents. I seem to remember that they visited with old friends there, and it was a very social time.

  11. Not only did I attend Walmo School for 1-3 grades, but I lived on Buena Vista Way, located on the opposite side of the school from Maitland Lane. I had Mrs. Patton, Mrs. Brugaman and Mrs. Moore. Our 3rd grade classroom was the same one, in the basement, that had wooden, built-in bookshelves that also served as the fire escape out the window. I remember an art project, by Helen Thompson, who just recently passed away, which entailed placing colored paper on top of swirling oiled dyes to make covers for our own diary type booklets.
    Growing up on Buena Vista, it seems like every house had kids and we would play baseball on the Walmo field all summer in the evening, until we could no longer see the ball! That’s when we knew it was time to go home. We would also try and swing “over the rail” and would wax paper the huge slide. Walking home for lunch, and Halloween Parades, and also always loved The Fair every summer. Good times! No, GREAT times!

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