“In Middle Village, we had only one little school, #70, on Juniper Avenue (now 69th St.), with three class rooms. When you completed your last class there, about the fifth grade, you could quit, or travel to Brooklyn or Newtown for further studies.
The little school was for the children who lived close by. I lived one block off Dry Harbor Road (Pullis Avenue), and so, had to attend the White Pot School, which was another three classroom affair. In all kinds of weather, we children walked through St. John’s Cemetery to get to White Pot School (#69), which also went from first grade to the fifth grade.
Most families were German, and if a child could not speak English at school, the first grade teacher got you started. Second and third grade classes were in another room, and fourth and fifth grade was held in the last classroom.
When we finished in Elementary School, we could go on to Newtown #14, which is now known as Newtown High School. Of course this journey was too far to walk, so a contractor across the street from Newtown High provided transportation for us. The contractor had the “Newtown Stage” and each morning the driver of the stage coach would wait for us, with his team of horses, at Dry Harbor Road and Metropolitan Avenue until everyone arrived and then he would take us to Newtown High for school. At the end of the school day, he brought us back to Middle Village again.
The stagecoach had two steps in the back to enter, and a long seat on each side with canvas curtains pulled down to protect us from the wind, rain, or any unpleasant weather. In the winter, while waiting for everyone to arrive, the driver would cover the horses with a blanket. When all the children had arrived, the blankets were given to us for cover and to keep us warm as the back of the stagecoach had no doors, and the wind could blow inside the curtain. We never minded the smell of horses from the blankets; when arriving at school all we thought of was the fun of riding along and singing.
At that time, Newtown High had about 15 students in school and three teachers. They occupied the auditorium and there were two small rooms on each side of the auditorium. Now, of course, the school is much larger. Also in about 1906, PS 87 was built and all the students from Middle Village were transferred there. The first graduation from P.S.87 was June of 1906.”
