228 Years of History: A Look Into Cheltenham High School's Past

In 1795, (when Cheltenham was known as "Milltown"), three residents, Benjamin Rowland Jr., Col. Samuel Miles, and Frederick Altemus founded the first school in the area that is now Ashmead Village, Cheltenham, a one room school, called the Milltown School. This school provided education for a daily fee of three cents and allowed students who could not afford the fee to attend the school for free. This school - in a way - laid the foundation for what would eventually become Cheltenham School District.

The first person documented as a teacher in the Milltown School was Mr. Samuel L. Wylie in 1797. Wylie was born in 1773 in Ireland, and attended the University of Glasgow. He only taught at Milltown for a short time, and would go on to become the Principal of the University of Pennsylvania Academy and Professor of Ancient Languages at the University of Pennsylvania.

Eventually, the need for the education of children in Milltown rose, and beginning in 1838, the "Common School System" was the body controlling the schools in Milltown. It had a board of directors, and in 1842 began building other schools for the growing community. Eventually, in 1857, with the creation of a post office, Milltown was renamed Cheltenham.

By 1880, Cheltenham Township had 13 public schools with a total enrollment of 250 students. The school system educated children from grades one through nine. In 1883, the principal of the Ashbourne School (one of the 13 schools in the township), George W. Flounders (considered to be the founder of Cheltenham High School), requested that the school system begin a high school level program, in order to establish Cheltenham as a center for higher education. That same year, the original Milltown School was demolished, and on the same site, the George K. Heller School (see below) was built, serving as both a building for the newly founded high school program and the existing primary school program.

The first official Cheltenham High School saw its construction begin in 1883 and began use in 1884. The building, constructed by Samuel T. Pool of Ogontz, cost $8,885, and was known as the George K. Heller School, named for an influential local resident who served Cheltenham schools for 35 years. It remains standing today at 439 Ashbourne Road. Even after the high school program left the George K. Heller school in the late 1800s, it served as an elementary school for the district until 1953, closing its doors following the construction of the original Cheltenham Elementary School. When the school closed, it was considered the oldest continuously used public school site in the country, in use from 1795 to 1953. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and currently serves as the Cheltenham Arts Center.

At its inception, the high school program shared this building with a grammar school, and originally offered only a one-year high school course in 1884, which had a graduating class with a grand total of four students. Two years later, in 1886, the course lengthened to two years, which called for an addition to the building to be added, separating the high school from the grammar school. At some point, high school classes transitioned to the Ashbourne School. The two year course continued till 1904, when Cheltenham High School then grew to a four year program. This expansion saw the high school's population grow in size as well, demanding an entirely separate building for the high school. This building, constructed in 1906, was the first building in the state of Pennsylvania constructed to house a high school. Later, following the construction of the 1926 high school facility, this building would become a junior high school, and eventually would serve as district administration, known as the "West Building".

The new high school building was constructed in 1926 near the West Building. Several other buildings were constructed on the same site in the following years, including a separate gymnasium in 1937 and an industrial arts building in 1951.

Cheltenham High School's 1926 building brought with it great strides in education and curriculum development, which came with national recognition. Most of these achievements came under the direction of principal I. R. Kraybill and district superintendents O. W. Ackerman and Albert L. Rowland. New classes were added, the Cheltenham Township Adult School saw its foundation, and the school had its first uniformed marching band program.

The 1926 building and all of the buildings surrounding it, served as the high school from its construction until 1957, when the current Cheltenham High School was built.

After high school classes transitioned to the current building, the 1926 building served as the Ogontz Junior High School until 1977, when it (and the surrounding buildings) was purchased by the Beth Jacobs School, a religious school founded in the 1890s. The Beth Jacobs School operated off of the Ogontz Junior High site until 1995, when both buildings were demolished and the land was turned into what is now High School Park.