Sarah "Sallie" A. Knight (1853-1931) was the principal of the Sunnyside School, located on the southeast corner of Butler Pike and Main Street in Ambler, PA.
Sarah was the daughter of George K. and Sarah Knight, whose descendants goes back to Gloucestershire, England.
The building was constructed in in 1826 by Joseph Wilson. Her eldest sister Elizabeth established the Sunnyside School in 1869, and the school was located where it was later used as George W. Niblock as a coal office south of the Ambler freight station along the Reading Company tracks. Elizabeth was the principal of the school.
The school was later moved into a room on the 3rd floor of the Knight residence located on the southeast corner of Butler Pike and Main Street. The first floor was used as a general store. It was later used as the Angeny pharmacy.
Her other sister Lavinia assisted Elizabeth until her death. In 1871, Sarah was educated at the Friends' Central School, and became a faculty member of the school. In 1879, Elizabeth passed away, and the principalship was passed onto Sarah.
As the principal of Sunnyside School, enrollment increased with 80 students. The first graduation happened in 1884, when 5 graduates were awarded. Throughout her years as principal, 350 students were enrolled, and 65 of them graduated.
She and her sister Cordella, who helped manage the school with Sarah, lived at her brother Alexander's home, which was the same exact location where their parents' homestead was.
From the Report of the Commissioner of Education:
From 1892-1893, there were 25 elementary students at Sunnyside School. 13 students in secondary grade level. 2 secondary instructors.
From 1894-1895, there were 31 elementary students at Sunnyside School. 14 students in secondary grade level. 3 secondary instructors.
From 1896-1897, there were 33 elementary students at Sunnyside School. 20 students in secondary grade level. 4 secondary instructors.
The school discontinued in 1903.
Bibliography:
"Google Maps Area Calculator Tool." DaftLogic. Accessed November 10, 2021. https://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-area-calculator-tool.htm.
Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Sunnyside Academy, 6 East Butler Avenue, Ambler, Montgomery County, PA. Pennsylvania Montgomery County Ambler, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/pa3314/.
Report of the Commissioner of Education for the Year 1892-93. Volume 2. Containing Parts III and IV. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1895): 1936-1937.
Report of the Commissioner of Education for the Year 1894-95. Volume 2. Containing Parts II and III. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896): 2088-2089.
Report of the Commissioner of Education for the Year 1896-97. Volume 2. Containing Parts II and III. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1898): 2144-2145.
"School is Discontinued." Ambler Gazette. August 27, 1903. Page 1. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/wivp-gazett/id/3513/rec/2.
Scott, J. D. Montgomery County 1877, Gwynedd, North Wales, Ambler, Royer's Ford, Limerick Station, 1877.
"Wissahickon Valley Public Library's Ambler Gazette Collection."POWER Library: Pennsylvania's Electronic Library. Accessed July 27, 2020. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/wivp-gazett.
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