Pic Of The Day #1502

Posted on May 28, 2021 | 13 Comments

End of a school day, at Kings Highway Elementary (Photo/Nicola Sharian)

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13 responses to “Pic Of The Day #1502”

  1. Sharon Paulsen | May 28, 2021 at 9:08 pm |

    Ah, this will always be Bedford Middle School to me! My old stomping ground. Nice pic!

    Staples High class of ‘86 here!

    • Dan Woog | May 28, 2021 at 9:10 pm |

      And to other people it will always be Bedford Junior High. And to others — even older — it will always be Staples High School!

      • Sharon Paulsen | May 28, 2021 at 9:17 pm |

        Oh wait … maybe it was “Junior High” during my time there? Oh my, there goes the memory. Damn, and I’m only 53! Yikes! 🤣🤣🤣

        • Dan Woog | May 29, 2021 at 6:41 am |

          Ninth graders moved up to Staples in the fall of 1983, and Westport”s “junior highs” (grades 7-9) turned into “middle schools” (grades 6-8). So you were in the last class of 8th graders at Bedford Junior High,

    • Jeanne V. Reed | May 29, 2021 at 7:44 am |

      It’s my junior high! Is there a way to post a home room photo for the 8th grade class of 1953-1954? I’m organizing albums for my family and happened upon the picture in boxes with that kind of thing.
      In my time, a farm was directly behind the school. How interesting that BJHS had been the high school. Was the high school called Staples back then? Could the school originally have been Bedford property? Staples property?

  2. Iain Bruce | May 28, 2021 at 10:13 pm |

    Hang on a sec. I’m new to town but I thought Kings Highway was always Kings Highway and that it is Saugatuck Elemantary that used to be Bedford Middle and before that Staples.

    • Sharon Paulsen | May 28, 2021 at 10:33 pm |

      Oh man, now I’m really confused, LOL! I thought this was a pic of the school on Riverside Drive. 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️ The facade/architecture is so similar … at least, in my memory. Ugh.

    • Dan Woog | May 29, 2021 at 6:46 am |

      Staples High School was built on Riverside Avenue (original building: where the Saugatuck El auditorium is now) in 1884. In the 1920s, the building we now know as Saugatuck El was built, as part of the Staples High campus (it was not connected to the first building). Around that time, 7th through 9th graders left Staples (where they had been attending) for the “new” Bedford Junior High (where Kings Highway is now).

      In 1958, Staples moved to North Avenue. The Riverside Avenue Staples became Bedford Junior High. Bedford Junior High (Post Road West) became a “new” elementary school: Kings Highway.

      In 1983, 9th graders from Bedford, Coleytown and Long Lots Junior Highs moved to Staples; it went from a 3-year high school to a 4-year high school. Junior highs converted from grades 7-9 into a “middle school” (grades 6-8) model.

      In the 1990s, a new Bedford Middle School was built on North Avenue, adjacent to Staples. The original Saugatuck Elementary School on Bridge Street was converted into senior housing; the building on Riverside Avenue was converted into an elementary school, and was renamed Saugatuck Elementary.

      Clear?!

  3. Jill Turner Odice | May 29, 2021 at 12:08 am |

    I moved to Westport in 1966 and it was King’s Highway back then…I had Mr. Iwaniki for a teacher…not any fond memories of him…but had some good friends in 6th grade 🙂