School welcomes back staffers for brunch
By Kelly Velocci, Packet Media Group
Triangle Elementary School’s celebration of its 50th anniversary Friday drew former teachers, administration and alumni.
Many of the school’s former educators picked up where their experience left off as they reminisced in the school’s library. Triangle School held a brunch for the former faculty that also was attended by many of the school’s current administration.
Triangle opened its doors in 1962 as a kindergarten-to-fifth-grade school. The school has grown to house 387 kindergarten-to-fourth-grade students.
Despite its growth, current and former faculty said the school still feels like home.
”So much has changed, but I don’t think the general feeling of the school has changed,” said Triangle’s principal, Lisa Heisel.
Alan Rosenlicht, Triangle’s first principal from 1962 to 1992, said the school’s atmosphere always made it an enjoyable place.
Phillip Kennedy, a former teacher at Triangle, said one of the main reasons he came back was to see his former principal.
Today, Mr. Kennedy is a principal at Central Avenue School in Madison where he has worked for 14 years. He said he will be retiring at the end of the school year. He said retirement is bittersweet, and he will miss the children and the teachers.
Mr. Kennedy said Triangle looked much different than he remembered and noted the building’s additions.
But, he said, “Children are the same no matter where you go.”
Nancy Knutsen, an art teacher at Triangle, said Mr. Rosenlicht was an active and engaged principal. She recalled him often walking through the hallways and visiting classrooms. From a teacher’s perspective, she said he made them feel recognized.
Ms. Knutsen said throughout her 27 years at Triangle, the school always has felt like home. She said the school’s flavor always has been warm and embracing.
Former third-grade teacher Carol Hontz taught at Triangle from 1965 to 1967. Ms. Hontz was the third-grade teacher of David Gwin, Hillsborough Rescue Squad’s chief, who attended the ceremony; the two have remained in contact over the years.
Ms. Hontz reminisced about her teaching career at Triangle and said children’s lives were simpler.
”There’s a lot of great aspects of the simple life,” she said.
Today, Ms. Hontz is active in Montessori education in Eastern Europe and is a lecturer and author on human development and kinesiology, also known as human kinetics, which emphasizes the study of movement as it relates to physical activity, health and disease prevention, exercise and sport.
Joyce Melitsky, a former teacher at Triangle, said she has remained in contact with many of her former colleagues as well as many of the school’s current faculty. Ms. Melitsky said she started at the elementary school as a student teacher in 1977 at the former Trenton State College, now The College of New Jersey.
During the celebration, Ms. Mathisen, a music teacher at Triangle, brought a fourth-grade class to sing the school’s song, “Three Cheers for Triangle School.”
Former faculty also were honored with a slideshow of pictures of their time at the elementary school.
Triangle School also celebrated Flag Day on Friday. The students attended a Flag Day assembly and were visited by Sgt. O’Neil Davis, a member of the Army National Guard. Students were allowed to sit inside the Humvee multipurpose vehicle he brought that day.