Mariaville School History
Mariaville Central Rural School opened for classes on December 1, 1927. As we celebrate the 80th anniversary of our school, this page will detail some of the history of the school.
Facts about early Mariaville Schools
The first school house in Mariaville (a one room School) was built in 1816
The first school house cost about $200 to build
The first teacher in Mariaville’s one room school house was John V. Waters
Mr. Waters was paid $60 to teach in 1816. The school year was 6 months long
The second school house in Mariaville was built in 1837 at a cost of $250.
The third school house in Mariaville was built in 1885 at a cost of $1200. It had 63 students in grades one through eight. It was located at the corner of Route 159 and 160. This school house burned down in 1925. Classes for students in Mariaville were held in a local inn for two years until the opening of the new school.
Mariaville Central Rural School opened December 1, 1927. Mariaville Central was formed from 5 common school (one room school) districts.
Those 5 one room schools were:
Mariaville School (referenced above)
Green’s Corners School (on Route 159 at the intersection with North and Wells Roads)
Eaton School on Route 160 (seee picture below)
Common School #4 Princetown (on Ennis Road)
Sanson school (near the corner of Route 160 and Sterling Road. This school house was later added on to and used as a Grange Hall)
Click on the link to the left to view some pictures of old schoolhouses in the Mariaville area.
The early days of Mariaville Central Rural School
The first principal of Mariaville Central School was John Sparks, and some of the first teachers were Edna Tinning, Hattie Staley, Ruth Hayner, Laura Love, and Charlotte Sweet. James Moran was a teacher and later principal of Mariaville from 1942 – 1957. Here is a picture of the school:
In the 1930s and 1940s, classes of two grade levels were combined. For example, 1st and 2nd grade were taught by one teacher. Similarly, 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th, 7th and 8th grades were each taught by one teacher. In the early 1940s, 9th grade was the highest grade at the school, and that class was taught by the Principal. Some students from Mariaville went to the Draper High School in Rotterdam to complete their education. Below is a budget for the school from 1942:
As you can see from this budget document, the total cost of running the school in 1942-3 was just over $20,000. Of that total cost, $16,000 was provided by State Aid: 80% of the total spending. This is a much higher ra tio of state aid than most districts receive today. Of course, costs were also much lower than today.
In 1942, here were the costs of some key items:
Total salaries for Mariaville School were $8,850
Transportation cost $5,357
Textbooks and supplies were $500
Pensions and insurance were $710
The school lunch program was started by members of the Mariaville PTA in 1954. Younger children ate lunch in the classroom and the older students ate at card tables in the gym. The lunches were prepared by volunteers from the PTA. The following year the school hired a cafeteria staff member and bought tables for lunch.
The Merger of Mariaville and Schalmont
Schalmont Central School District was formed from 13 common and union free school districts in 1955. A new junior-senior high school for Schalmont students opened in 1957. Mariaville remained an independent school district until 1960, but began to send its students to Schalmont for grades 7-12.
According to NYS Education Department data, in 1958 Mariaville Central Rural School District enrolled 128 students in grades K - 6. The state Education Department also published its updated Master Plan for School District Reorganization in 1958, which recommended that Mariaville merge with the newly created Schalmont Central School District.
According to a newspaper article in the Schenectady Gazette dated February 19, 1958, the Mariaville Central Board of Education had recently voted unanimously to circulate petitions among the qualified voters of the Mariaville district asking them to authorize the merger with Schalmont.
In a subsequent article from the Gazette dated March 1, 1960, it was reported that Schenectady County Superintendent of Schools John H. Fink had received petitions signed by about 80% of the 300 qualified voters in the Mariaville District approving the merger. These petitions were then forwarded to NYS Commissioner of Education Dr. James E Allen, Jr. along with the resolution of the Schalmont Board of Education indicating their agreement to the merger. This merger was to be in the form of an annexation, which meant that Mariaville School District would be incorporated into Schalmont without the need to elect a new Board of Education (as would be required in a centralization, another form of merger).
Interestingly, the news article from the Gazette indicates that the preliminary plan for the merger showed a tax increase for Mariaville property owners from $55 to $60 per $1,000 of assessed value. One advantage to the merger was that Mariaville as a separate district had to pay tuition ($200 per student in 1958) for its students to attend Schalmont Junior-Senior High School. Another advantage was that Mariaville as a permanent part of Schalmont would have access to future improvements in facilities and instruction due to the financial advantage of the larger tax base. The merger of Mariaville with Schalmont went into effect July 1, 1960.
Mariaville School in the 1960s and 1970s
The principal of Mariaville School in the early 1960s was Mr. Burton Zhe, who had also been a 3rd grade teacher at Mariaville. Another former Mariaville teacher, Mr. Oliver Murray, was principal of Shonowe Elementary School in Schalmont. Mr. Murray later became the Business Administrator for Schalmont. The Principal of Mariaville from 1968 - 1976 was Mrs. Lois Troup, who had also been a Kindergartern teacher at Mariaville from 1956 to 1968. Mrs. Troup started the first library at Mariaville School in the 1960s.
Click on the link at the left to view a list of the 12 principals of Mariaville School.
Some of the teachers at Mariaville School in the 1960s and 1970s were Ruth Sullivan, who taught 4th grade and also was the PTA Vice President, Jim Bakus, who taught 4th grade, Ruth Van Wormer, who taught 2nd grade, and June Cummings, who taught 3rd grade. Mrs. Julie Dzuba was the school nurse. Doris McKeon worked in the school kitchen.
To view some pictures from the 1960s and 1970s at Mariaville School, click on the link to the left.
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