Parkton School

The Parkton School was built in 1889. It opened as a two-room school at its present site.

Source: "Seventh District Consolidated School District History." 1933. Parkton, MD. Print.

The Parkton School

Written by Addison Bryant in Grade 6 during the 1981-1982 school year. This report was written for the 50th Anniversary of Seventh District Elementary School in 1982.

The Parkton School was located on York Road, then a "stoney pike", in Parkton. Parkton was known as a roalroad town since all the men worked on the railroad. The school was built in 1889 and had two rooms. Grades one through four were on the north side and grades 537 we're on the south side. There was no electricity until 1925 areas there was a coal stove to heat the two room schoolhouse.

Many of the benefits we take for granted today such as different teachers for different subjects, principal, Vice Principal, special education teacher, music teacher,Physical education teacher, librarian, guidance counselor, school nurse and custodian were not available then.In 1911 the teachers each taught for grades and were responsible for everything.

Miss Harriet Pries " Miss Hattie " was a teacher for grades one through four. Miss Gertrude Gemmel was a teacher for grades five through seven. Ms. Gemmel went on to be vice principal of seventh District in 1932. miss Pries and Miss Gemmel were the principle, vice principal, special education teacher, music teachers, physical education teachers, librarians, guidance counselors, school nurses, and custodians for the Parkton school.

The only way of getting to school was walking. The children were lucky if they got a ride. Most of the children walk as much as 4 miles to get to school and then home again. They came from as far away as Stablersville Road, Weisburg Rd., Frederick Road and Middletown Road. The girls wore dresses with petticoats and long drawers underneath and the boys wore knickers.

In the morning during cold days the teachers kept the coal stove going. The children arrived at 9 o'clock to the ringing of the bell in the bell free, hung by the teacher. They had opening exercises which included the pledge to the flag, the Lords prayer and Bible reading. The subjects taught were reading, writing, arithmetic, history, physiology and nature study. The teacher kept a windup alarm clock on her desk to keep track of the time.

The children had a 15 minute break at 10:30 AM and 2:00 PM o'clock p.m. to rest and to use the outhouses. There was an outhouse for the boys and one for the girls, both of which were surrounded by board offenses. The outhouses could also be used before school, after school, lunchtime and if necessary during class, a child could hold up three fingers and be excused.

The lunch hour began at 12 o'clock. The children carry their lunches and lard, 6 inches in diameter. there was no means of frustration in those days except for ice, which the school did not have. The children washed up before lunch in buckets of water carried up from neighboring houses, since the school had no water.

There was not a school nurse for the children who got sick in school. If the sick child was in grades one through four, one of the older children in grades five through seven would walk them home. If the child was in the upper grades, he would walk home alone. There was no telephones, but since mother's did not work outside the home then, the teacher knew someone would be at home to meet the sick child.

The Parkton school had a cupboard of books which was the library. They had very few books but the children enjoyed them and read them all over and over.

After school, most of the children went by the Parkton store (which is no longer there) owned and operated by Jacob Stiffler until 1926 and then operated by his wife Bertha and daughter Emily until 1933 to buy penny candy before going home. If they did not stop by the store they would go straight home because they had chores to do. The chores included cutting wood, feeding the chickens and fetching the milk. Not all families have their own cow, so the children would get the evenings supply of milk from the closest neighbor with a cow.

Lunchtime was also playtime. Popular games at that time were Dodge Ball, Ante-Over (throwing the ball over the schoolhouse), Who's Got The Thimble?, Drop The Handkerchief, and a favorite game, baseball. The boys and girls made their own baseball bats out of flat wooden boards.

In those days the schools had a different grading system. Instead of having A, B, C, D and E, the Parkton School had E (excellent), VG (very good), M (moderate), G (good), and U (unsatisfactory). The children's report card came out four times a year. The report card was a single sheet of paper. The information given on the report card was the school number, district name, subject list, and at the bottom, "promoted" or "not promoted". under each subject was a comment from the teacher. Children had to attend school until they were 14.

School supplies we're limited to paper and pens. The pens were dipped in little bottles of black ink and used to ride on lined paper.

If a child needed help with his work, the child would stay after school for special education with the teacher. The child would then have extra homework.

The children did not have all of the vacations that we have now. They had Christmas vacation, Easter Monday and summer vacation.

When the children graduated from the Parkton school they went to Towson High School located at the corner of Allegheny and Central Avenue. This building is still in use as an office building the children who went to Towson took the 7:15 AM train from the Parkton train station which is no longer there to Timonium, Ana arrived at 8:45 AM and then took the jerkwater to Towson. The jerkwater was a battery powered electric car.

The Parkton school along with other schools in this area was consolidated into what is now known as seventh district elementary school.

I gratefully acknowledge the memories of the Parkton school, and life in those days, passed on to me by a former student of the part in school who wishes to remain anonymous.

Addison Bryant, Grade 6, 1982

Please contact us if you have more information or photos to share of the Parkton School House in Parkton, Maryland. Thank you! Hope Metzler, 7dehistory@gmail.com