In Memory of Mattison Avenue Elementary School...
- Yen Ho
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
I was a student at Shady Grove Elementary, and the only people I remembered meeting most outside of Shady Grove were the students at Mattison Avenue Elementary School. The only time I went inside the school was during a little field trip I had with a few of my classmates from Shady Grove. When I found out that the school closed, I was sadden we lost a school that was part of our lives for many years. To preserve the memory of Mattison Avenue Elementary School, let's take a look back its early beginnings, and how the school impacted the Ambler community.
Building the School
In 1902, discussions began by the Ambler Board of School Directors about building a new school for the community. There was the Forest Avenue School, but it only had one room and the area was growing. A new school was needed to enroll more students.
The board purchased the 158 square foot lot on Mattison Ave. Poplar St. from George K. Knight. It hired architect James C. M. Shirk and Fort Washington native Daniel W. Sperry to design and build the new school.
Fun Fact # 1: Shirk was part of the first wave of Philadelphia architects who went abroad to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.
The final price to design and build the new school was $10,250. The building itself was 86x64 feet, made of local stone and "surmounted" by a hipped slate roof.
The school had a total of eight rooms with four rooms on each floor.
Each room was 28x30 feet with five windows.
The second floor had two assembly rooms, 28x60 feet each.
The floor was made of maple wood and the wainscoting and the window and door frames were finished in yellow pine.
The cellar floor was cemented.
Wells Warming and Ventilating System was installed.
The Ambler Board of School Directors had their own room in the school
The school was expected to open on January 15, 1903.
Mattison Avenue's Gradual Success
Five years after it opened, there was a huge increase in enrollment at Mattison Avenue: 456 students were enrolled, the most the school had since its opened. During the 1910s, the increasing population of Ambler residents led to a need to split the students up between the Forest Avenue School and the Mattison Avenue School, and expanding the physical spaces of both schools. There was a suggestion that the Mattison Avenue School should mainly be for primary grades.
After Ambler High School was built in 1922, Forest Avenue and the Mattison Avenue Schools were used for primary grades.
In the early 1930s, there were 225 students at the Forest Avenue School while 214 were at the Mattison Avenue School. And 484 students were enrolled at Ambler High School.
A School Fighting to Stay Alive
During the second half of the 20th century, the original school building was demolished in 1967, and was rebuilt as it looks like the building we know today. During the 1980s there was anger in the Ambler community about the closing of Mattison Avenue due to its declining enrollment and school budget cuts. In 1987, the Wissahickon School Board unanimously voted to keep Mattison Avenue open, and planned to reorganize the other elementary schools to have grades K-5 while keeping K-3 students at Mattison Avenue.
Note: Mattison Avenue Elementary School was the only school remaining in Ambler.
The school continued its operation for 26 years until the Wissahickon School Board voted to close the school. They also voted to send the students from Mattison Avenue to either Shady Grove or Lower Gwynedd Elementary Schools after the 2012-2013 school year.
Personally, I've known people who attended Mattison Avenue, and they had fond memories of being there with their friends and teachers. I was in that school a few times when I was a student at Shady Grove.
"All three of my children attended Mattison Avenue and went on to be Wissahickon graduates. I was the crossing guard at the school for seven years. Halloween, the children, in their costumes, would parade around the block (Mattison Avenue, down Water Street, back onto Rosemary Avenue). Residents would come out and cheer them on.... Often you would see classes walking through town for either a trip to the library, firehouse, police department visit as a class assignment. Just a few of the many reasons having a school in a small town community was so loved by many. The children learned about their community they lived in by experiencing it. My grandson is finishing kindergarten this year at Mattison. He got to experience what it was like to walk to school every day with his friends. I’m glad he at least got a year of what it is like to have your school in your neighborhood."
- Pat Strus, Ambler resident
"I graduated from third grade ages ago (maybe about 15 years or more) and I have such fond memories of it. I remember releasing butterflies with Mrs. Simpson, sleeping in Mrs. Robinson’s (I think that was her name) bath for nap time. Why she had a bathtub in her classroom, I don’t know, but I loved it. I remember Mrs. Lawrence and the wonderful aura around her. I remember playing in the playground (especially the time I fought some kid for a granola bar and ended up breaking my wrist … that was fun)... It broke my heart to hear that the elementary school I loved has now closed. My thoughts are with the teachers, staff and the students who now have to change schools. There won’t ever be a school quite like this one."
- Lauren Kaye, a former Mattison Avenue student
"When I was in Mrs. Boyer’s kindergarten class in 1991-1992 my family moved in May. Our move fell over my younger brother’s third birthday and I told Mrs. Boyer that I was worried he wouldn’t get to have a party because we were moving. She took me aside and suggested that we throw a party for my brother in school. She asked my mom to come in and help with a project and we threw a birthday party with cake and games for my younger brother, Aaron. It was such a thoughtful and nice thing for a teacher to do! She went way above the call of duty that day!"
- Grace Savage, a former Mattison Avenue student
Mattison Avenue Elementary Principal Concetta Lupo wrote a farewell address to the community after the school closed down:
"'Hodding Carter, Jr. once said, 'There are two things we should give our children: one is roots and the other is wings.... Mattison Avenue Elementary School has given you roots. Now it is time for Mattison Avenue and the Wissahickon School District to give you wings. Shady Grove and Lower Gwynedd are excellent schools. Children, you will go to your new, incredible school next year. You will learn so much at your new schools, you will be remarkable and successful in your new school next year and your future. Good luck!'"
Bibliography
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"Ambler community says goodbye as Mattison Avenue Elementary closes its doors." The Times Herald. Last modified September 23, 2021. https://www.timesherald.com/2013/06/21/ambler-community-says-goodbye-as-mattison-avenue-elementary-closes-its-doors/.
Conroy, Theresa. "Ambler school to remain open under board's realignment plan." Philadelphia Inquirer. March 26, 1987.
Devlin, Eric. "Community shares memories of Mattison Avenue Elementary School." The Reporter. Last modified September 24, 2021. https://www.thereporteronline.com/2013/06/20/community-shares-memories-of-mattison-avenue-elementary-school/.
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