This group of men teamed up to build the New Castle Senior High School we all attended. Photo appeared in The New Castle News, courtesy of John Hitch.
Ne-Ca-Hi trivia
F. Floyd Alford, by virtue of the alphabet, led his 83-member class across the New Castle High School auditorium stage for the school’s first graduation ceremony in 1912.
“I got the first sheepskin,” he recalled in a 1982 interview. “We thought that was quite a magnificent school then, that senior high school.”
Alford, who managed his Shenango Township dairy farm for 50 years, died in 1985.
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The school was far from complete when it opened in Sept. 11, 1911. Carpenters and painters were still working in the building. Most classrooms had no desks.
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The grades were nine through 12.
Superintendent of Schools T.A. Kimes announced that city schools had an enrollment of 5,490 students, an increase of 300 from 1910.
The high school had 547 students. Enrollment for the other city schools was: Martin Gantz, 362; East Street, 98; Highland Avenue, 363; Oak Street, 384; Croton, 299; Central, 384; Thaddeus Stevens, 473; Lincoln-Garfield, 637; Home Street, 415; Terrace Avenue, 350; West Side, 334; Lawrence, 105; Mahoningtown, 432; Eighth Grade School, 307. (By golly, all these numbers do add up to 5,490.)
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Before planning and building the school, Principal G.A. Dickson and school directors had visited schools in various cities to get an idea what they wanted New Castle's school to look like. In walking through a high school in Niagara Falls, N.Y., they particularly liked the wide hallways. And that boys and girls is why we had plenty of room to hold our little group sessions before school started each morning. (But, what school could they possibly have visited that had a warped floor on the top level?)
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Goodbye
to all that
The final dismissal bell rang as usual at 2:28 p.m. The students began to leave. Staff members gathered in the foyer for a non-alcoholic toast. Then they all sang the alma mater.
Thus it was on the final day of classes at the old New Castle Senior High School on Tuesday, December 23, 2003.
Within a few months, the building that has withstood 92 winters will be torn down.
But as Principal and highly successful basketball Coach John Sarandrea said: "I guess it's more than a building to most of us. For all the times we cursed it, and all the times we blessed it, and for all the times in between, I would have to say this old building has done its job well.
"It's a happy and exciting time, but at the same time I'm trying to fight back a little sadness. It was a very comfortable place. A very warm and cozy place, even though it was old."
Here is what some others said:
Rick Sankey, food service director: The cafeteria is going to have a food court. It's nice. I'm glad we're moving up to modern times.
Senior Miranda Fee: It's kind of sad, but it's kind of exciting to go to the new school. There's a lot of memories here.
Margee Anderson, art teacher for over 30 years: It's a change that's needed. This one is falling apart.
Jenna Mozzocio, 2000 graduate: It just blew my mind that some opposed building this school. I was a cheeleader. We would got to schools like North Allegheny and Pine-Richland, and those schools were amazing. So modern, so well laid out. And here's your school like this. But, I'm happy with the education I got here.
This year's 12th-grade class is the last group of seniors to attend the old school and the first in the new one. Accordingly, they had T-shirts made that say: "Last of the old. First of the new. Ne-Ca-Hi Seniors. 2004."
New Castle News Photo
Last day: Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003
Old School 1911-2003
