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South Connellsville Schools
Authored by: A History of South Connellsville 1976
It is hard to imagine that in 1882 there were only three schools in Connellsville Township, of which South Connellsville was then a part, only nine teachers and three hundred students. Male teachers in the mid 1800's were paid about $20.00 a month and female teachers, $12.50. Schools were few, but the children attended and learned reading, writing and arithmetic. If the students were not careful they came into contact with a large switch that made them attend to their lessons more faithfully.
As early as 1874, the White Rock School located at Gibson Avenue and Reidmore Road, was offering the "Three R's" to the children in first through sixth grade. In 1895 the White Rock School was sold to Amos Bryner and is now owned by the Soliday family. A year before, ground on Pittsburgh Street was donated by Kathryn Gibson Ruff for the express purpose of erecting a school. The original school was built on the site of the present day South Connellsville Elementary School. It had six rooms for classes, including a high school class from which six people were graduated in 1906. In 1910 a new building was built that had four rooms and a principal's office.
In 1916 the Gibson School had three years of High School. The students then attended Connellsville High School for one year. School was also held in three rented rooms and in the "Brick Store". The building was located at the corner of Park and Pittsburgh Street, but has since been torn down. The 1925-1926 term had two years of high school at Gibson and two years of high school at Connellsville. Around 1940, an addition was built to the rear of the new building. Added on were four rooms, a library, corridors and a gymnasium. In 1947 the students attended all four years of high school at Connellsville. The original Gibson School was torn down in 1963. Four new classrooms were added to the adjacent structure. The other school located in South Connellsville in the early 1900's was the Humbert School on Baldridge Avenue. The building held grades one through six was closed in 1939.
Posted: Mar 21, 1998
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