Berthoud Weekly Surveyor
July 29, 2021
BACK-TO-SCHOOL TIME
Page 5
A LOOK AT BERTHOUD
W hen Berthoud schools open this fall it will mark 100 years since the community’s junior and high school students began classes in the new school building (no longer standing) erected at the northwest corner of Ninth Street and Massachusetts Avenue. That site — presently occupied by Turner Middle School — was the location of erthoud’s first unior-senior high school, a building constructed by local contractor John A. Bell for the Tales of the for cost 8 , 8 . . The unior high school consisted of Little Thompson grades 7 and 8 with the high school made up of students in grades through . According to Berthoud historian Helen McCarty Fickel when Bell was building the school he was also constructing a craftsman-style bungalow for his family at 908 Mountain Ave. When Bell overran his school budget he made good on the contract, absorbed the losses, halted construction of his dwelling and moved into the basement of the unfinished house until he was able to finish. ell’s brick bungalow presently houses The Cottage Realty. Mark French efore the erthoud unior-Senior High School Surveyor Columnist building was built at the northwest corner of Ninth Street and assachusetts Avenue in , first through twelfth-grade students living in erthoud attended classes in a two-story, red-brick school building located in the center of present-day ickel Park. The east half of the building had been built in 1897. A mirror addition that was the west half of the school was constructed in 1908. After the new unior-senior high school was built in , the old school one block away in present-day ickel Park became erthoud’s elementary school. irst through sixth-grade students attended the school. There was no indergarten. ural students continued to attend first through eighth grades in one of the community’s country schools. If they wished to attend the high school they were responsible for transporting themselves to Berthoud since school buses were not made available. The new school building heralded Berthoud’s entry into the modern world. While the school was under construction in the summer of the local newspaper published “Some Facts About Berthoud’s New High School Building. The facts included uilding about s uares feet semi-basement with two stories above concrete foundation wall of olden fire brick, with rough panels and white smooth trimming, laid in pattern design has fan system of heating and ventilating gymnasium in basement, x feet with foot ceiling to have balcony; manual training and domestic science rooms; furnace room, lockers and toilet also in basement auditorium on first floor, x feet with stage and balcony; the largest room in town; the superintendent’s office four school rooms and entrance to auditorium also on first floor on second floor there will be five school rooms and entrance to balcony of auditorium the side wings to stage will be used for library ... ” When the school was approaching completion in uly the local tabloid observed, The tinting and decorating of the walls of the high school building is completed and the building is even more beautiful within than outside. The walls looked so well in the white finish of the plaster that we uestioned the advisability of incurring the extra expense of decorating at this time. But we are convinced. There are some things that have a higher than mere utilitarian value, and we are sure that all who see the beautiful finished ob will feel the school board acted wisely. The furniture has been purchased and when it is in place we will have that grand opening fete that Mr. Bell has promised us for the last year and a half.” School opened for the - school year on onday, Sept. , .A total of students were enrolled in the high school with 3 of them being freshmen. The high school staff consisted of C.B. Whitehouse (Superintendent , iss dith imson atin and nglish , iss Dora Newell odern
anguages and Science , iss Iva eaird History and nglish , rs. Wolford Commercial Department , iss Cora Dumbauld usic and Art , and eslie Dunnell anual Training and Athletics . The Berthoud High School athletic mascot was the Bears. The unior high school included 3 seventh graders and 8 eighth graders. Their teachers were iss ary utler seventh and rs. Hugh . Perry (eighth). The original school building that became the erthoud lementary School housed first graders, 3 second-graders, 3 third-graders, fourth-graders, 33 fifth-graders, and 3 sixth-graders. iss Ivy Stockwell the namesake of erthoud’s modern-day Ivy Stockwell lementary School was the teacher of the second grade. ne century later in school-aged children in the erthoud community will attend erthoud lementary School, Ivy Stockwell lementary School, Turner Middle School or Berthoud High School. The total number of students is not yet known but it is certain to be many times less than it was 100 years ago in when the school year began with high school, unior high, and 180 elementary school students respectively.
