Southern Boulevard School is 90 Years Old

Contributed by Patricia Wells, Chatham Township Historical Society

Southern Boulevard School is celebrating its 90th year. In September 1929 the doors were opened to the first students. Previously, students had attended three small schools: Mount Vernon (known as the Red Brick Schoolhouse), Green Village School, and Noe Farm School (officially Chatham Township #3 Public School and often known as Boulevard School). Mount Vernon and Green Village provided classes for grades 1 through 8, but because of its small size Noe Farm School taught only grades 1 through 5. Older students were sent to school in Madison. There were only two classrooms and two teachers at Mount Vernon and Green Village, and only one room and one teacher at Noe Farm School.

As early as 1925, parents and the Board of Education (BOE) had become concerned about crowding in the schools. Mount Vernon was so crowded that the BOE arranged for the 7th and 8th grade students to go to Chatham Borough. The town began planning for a large new fireproof modern school. It would have five classrooms for eight grades. Miss Belcher, who had taught grades 1 through 4 for many years at Mount Vernon was excited at the prospect of having only grades 1 and 2 in her classroom.

Students and teachers of Chatham Township Public School 1929-1930. There were 143 students, 5 teachers and 5 classrooms.

Courtesy of Chatham Township Historical Society

In 1927 voters approved $70,000 (equal to $1,064,500 today) for the new building and its furnishings and a call for bids went out. However even the lowest bid was higher than this, so a second vote was required to approve an additional $15,000. The 3 ½ acre Holmes Lot on Southern Boulevard was purchased for $6,000 and building began. The school would be called Chatham Township Public School. Today you can identify it as the rectangular section that faces Southern Boulevard.

A 1929 article from The Chatham Press noted, “A public spirited citizen of the Township is providing a baseball diamond for the boys and girls, and playground equipment will be added by the authorities later. In the basement of the school is a large recreation room, with a stage at one end.” The school fielded girls and boys basketball teams and a baseball team that competed against neighboring schools.

Chatham Township Public School under construction 1929. Now Southern Boulevard School.

Courtesy of Chatham Township Historical Society

The first graduating class of 8th graders consisted of 17 students, as compared to 34 graduates in Chatham Borough. The school population continued to grow, and the first addition was added to the school in 1936 only seven years after it opened. A second addition was need in 1949.

In 1954, Lafayette Avenue School opened to serve grades 5-8 and Chatham Township Public School was renamed Southern Boulevard School. High school students continued to go to Chatham or Madison High Schools.

The Chatham Township Historical Society’s Red Brick Schoolhouse Museum is open the first Sunday of every month from 2-4 p.m. It is located at the corner of Fairmount Avenue and Southern Blvd.