From Herb Swanson, Class of ’55…………….thanks Herb!
February 24, 2016
Dear Larry,
I found some oversights concerning Berea elementary schools. I was trying to trace the BHS class of 55 history, to find all the streams that made up our class of around 144 at graduation. My stream started for some as early as 1941 at the Fair Street School. In 1941 the Fair Street School, located at 390 Fair Street, was already old: at least one of my classmates claimed that his dad went to Berea schools which would have been either Fair of Central. If you look carefully at the pictures of 390 Fair Street, you can see an old brick building nestled behind the modern work. At that time Fair Street was a dirt road, and the Fair Street School had four rooms k-4, with k-1 sharing a room. The basement housed a cafeteria, reigned over by the delightful and loving Grandma Duktig, who still has descendants living in that neck of the wood. Mrs. Bartlett, a direct descendent of Josiah Bartlett, the signer of the Constitution, was the principal and fourth grade teacher. Graduation from fourth grade involved a transfer to Central for fifth and sixth grades: for us that was 1947. The Race Street School was under construction at that time, so as soon as it was ready for students, Mr. John F. Koeppe and his staff remodeled 390 and moved into it as their district administration building. So we were moved to Central and combined with classes already extant there. The fifth grade 1947-48 was led by two distinguished teachers: Mses. Erf and Unik. I can’t be sure but Ms. Unik may have come from Fair Street with us. Mses. Carroll and Clark commanded, equally distinguished teachers, were in command of sixth grade 1948-49. There may have been other classes and other streams supplying our arrival at BHS in 1949. St. Mary School came to join us: I have no idea how many that involved; so, we were together for the next six years. As I said before, we graduated around 144. Distributing that in three streams amounts to classes of 48, which seems rather large. So the point of inquiry is, were there other classes or sources.
Since we lived at 596 Fair Street and later moved to 7492 Farnum in Middleburg, I am intimately familiar with the area and period and am not aware of other schools, or school construction going on at that time; nor do the kids I grew up with know of any. This seems to agree with the rest of your history. However, there could have been a feeder elementary school in Brook Park, but I did not find any dates that are early enough. So if you know of any other elementary schools from that period, I would like to know about them. On the other hand, if you have other questions concerning Berea history, I and my classmates may be able to provide you with information.
Incidentally, Mr. Fred S. Schoek, another distinguished teacher, was my homeroom teacher for seventh grade in 1949-50. Since he recently passed at 90 and I am 78 it is interesting that He is only 14 years older than us…. Mr. Schoek taught history to us, and was indeed the assistant coach for the football team. Mr. Robert Lloyd Purdy, also distinguished, taught accounting and business subjects and coached track as well.
Berea was a great town in which to grow up, and I miss Berea greatly, living out here in Oklahoma.
Yours,
Herb Swanson
Continued, on February 26, 2016……………..thanks Herb for all your work! Larry
Also, there was a Brook Park School, as well as schools at St. Mary and St. Adalbert. If any of this is of value to you in your historical research, you might want to scan Berea High School - Berea Ohio (All Class Alumni) to see if there is anything useful. I was able to verify Fair Street School with very early dates, and a much older Brook Park School which you do not have listed. We also believe that there was a school at St. Adalbert as well as St. Mary. With two classes at Central, there were at least five elementary classes feeding into BHS in 1948 to make what would become the class of 55, 144 kids.
I also found my 2011 BHS Alumni Directory and it has a nice history vignette with pictures on pages 7-19.
Thank you for your contribution to the history of Berea.
Yours,
Herb
June 21, 2012
BEREA -- Titans will be the official mascot throughout the Berea school district starting with the 2013-14 school year.
Students in grades 7 through 10 voted online for one of four mascots during the last week of school. Other selections were Bandits, Tigers and Warriors.
The district made the announcement Tuesday.
Berea and Midpark High schools will combine as one that year at the current Berea High building, which will be renamed Berea-Midpark High School. Those who voted for the mascot will be the first students under the newly merged high school. About 1,200 students voted in the selection.
Each school in the district now has its own mascot. That will change when all mascots are converted to Titans in the 2013-14 school year as the building consolidations take effect. The new district colors of blue and orange also will begin that year.
Both of the current high schools’ art departments will design the logo for the Titans, which is expected to be finalized in the fall.
This process began two years ago with about 50 ninth graders from each high school who met to discuss issues they thought important for the school consolidation. One of the issues included the naming of a new mascot. They narrowed that list down to the four names that appeared in the recent voting. Both high school principals helped guide the process.
The district is composed of Berea, Brook Park, Middleburg Heights and a portion of Olmsted Falls
April 19, 2012
BEREA -- The selected names for the reconfigured school buildings have a familiar ring to them.
Berea-Midpark High School will become the new grades 10-12 building at the current Berea High School. The current Midpark High School will be renamed the Middleburg Heights Junior High that will house the district’s seventh- to ninth-graders. Ford Intermediate School, now Ford Middle School, will include fifth- and sixth-graders.
The board voted to approve the names at Monday’s school board meeting. The names will be in place for the 2013-2014 school year when the buildings transition into their new grade levels.
Nancy Braford, the district’s community relations director, chaired the district’s Heritage Committee that discussed and recommended the name changes. She said members spent much time discussing names that would bring the two high schools together to show an equal "partnership" and have all three schools be equally important within the district. She said members spoke with those in the community, district graduates and their own families. She called the new names a "consensus."
"The committee didn’t agree and their households didn’t agree," Braford said. "We believe this respects the heritage of the schools and their integrity. You can’t please everyone."
Ken Meder, president of the Midpark Alumni Association, is a committee member. He said the meetings were "very emotional" to him due to Midpark closing as a high school. He said he suggested the name Hickox after Jared Hickox, whose family members were the first permanent settlers in Middleburg Township.
"No one liked it. I was hoping for a new name," said the 1970 Midpark graduate. "I am not happy with it (Berea-Midpark.) But I can live with the name. The consensus said this probably is the easiest way to go."
Andrea Payne, whose siblings and mother attended Berea High, said she went into the first meeting wanting to keep the Berea name.
"We talked and I realized that they (Midpark graduates) loved their school as much as I loved mine," said Payne, whose son attends Berea. "Any other name would have been a disservice. To me, it is the best fit."
Committee member John Amantea of Brook Park said he did not like any of the suggested new names.
"If this was a new building, a new name would be appropriate," said the Berea graduate. "We tried to get something that would involve each community. It is what is best for the school district and the community."
The committee tried to keep the names that reflected the area’s heritage and history. The name Midpark is a combination of Middleburg Heights and Brook Park. Big Creek Elementary School was the original Middleburg Heights Junior High.
The board vote was not unanimous. Member Fred Szabo, who voted against the proposal, said he preferred a more "dynamic" name for the high school.
"I was hoping they would come up something like Grindstone, that is innovative. The name doesn’t spark," he said. "Although the vote is there, I will accept it."
A committee of Midpark and Berea students will decide a mascot for the combined high school. Berea-Midpark High and the overall district will have new colors in 2013: blue and orange.
Due to declining enrollment and financial constraints, the district has been downsizing its schools.
Historical Information