Former principals come to visit
By Ruth Luse, Managing Editor
Visits from three former principals, the dedication of a new gazebo and the unveiling of a new work of art were part of Bear Tavern Elementary School’s 50th anniversary celebration held on Friday, according to Alicia Brooks Waltman, district communications specialist.
Three of the school’s past leaders — Lloyd Newbaker (1962-66), Jeff Corelli (1984-86) and Richard Scheetz (1986-2003) — joined Principal Bruce Arcurio, who is principal today, in the celebration.
Bear Tavern’s opening preceded regionalization of Hopewell Valley schools in 1965-66.
Dr. Newbaker, who went on to work at the NJ. Department of Education, made note of the school’s predecessor: the Scotch Road School No. 6, which was housed in an old Navy hospital at Mercer County Airport just after World War II.
”Facilities were a little sparse, but we had a great spirit and a great vision, and it does my heart good to see that spirit is still alive,” said Dr. Newbaker.
He also related the rocky beginnings of the Bear Tavern School, when a rare tornado come up the Delaware River in the summer of 1962 and blew the roof off the new facility.
”We put the school back together and opened three weeks late, and from that day forward, we’ve always striven to have a top-notch school,” he said. “Of all the years I’ve been in education, I think this is my favorite place.”
Mr. Arcurio opened up the school’s cornerstone, which was last opened at the school’s 25th anniversary. The contents include a program, a T-shirt and a yearbook from that anniversary celebration, as well as a teacher’s paystub, the amount of which Mr. Arcurio declined to reveal.
Also unveiled was a five-panel mosaic depicting each of the five decades of Bear Tavern’s existence.
Mr. Arcurio ended the afternoon’s formal program by quoting from a book by children’s author Sheryl Creech. The book is “Fine, Fine School.” “Aren’t these fine children. Aren’t these fine teachers. Isn’t this a fine, fine school,” he remarked.
A crowd gathered to celebrate the school’s history with music, art, speeches and an anniversary/end-of- year picnic.
ACCORDING to the HVRSD’s website, “up until 1958, seventh and eighth grades were housed in the elementary schools of Hopewell Valley. That year, the district established a K-six elementary school, a seven-eight junior school and a nine-12 high school. The junior school operated from the original Central High School on South Main Street in Pennington.”
(Editor’s note: For some years prior to regionalization, Hopewell Borough high school-age students did not attend Central High in Pennington. They went to Princeton High School once they left Hopewell Elementary. It was after regionalization that they began to attend what is today HVCHS).
In 1966, the newly regionalized school district authorized the construction of a $2 million Timberlane Junior School on a site adjacent to the new Central High School. The original Central High School, on Pennington’s South Main Street, today houses the district administration offices.
(Editor’s note: What today is Toll Gate Grammar was once Pennington Grammar. The Administration Building, for a time, was Toll Gate School. Another school, Pennington Primary, was located on Academy Street, today the site of condominiums.)
”The district’s oldest continually operating elementary schools, Hopewell Elementary” and what is known today as Toll Gate Grammar, date to the 1920s.
Bear Tavern Elementary, which serves students in the Titusville section and western areas of Hopewell Township, was built in the 1960s, but it is the fourth building to serve students in that area since public education was organized in the Valley. One of those schools was the Titusville School, located on River Drive.
Bear Tavern School is located on Route 579 (or Bear Tavern Road).