WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 16, 2019 29
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
teachers. The annual expenses to
run the school were about $12,000.
This included the salaries of the
principal and staff. This sum was
raised by taxes on property within
the school district.
After Queens County was
incorporated into New York City
in 1898, the school came under the
Board of Education and was renamed
P.S. 68. The population growth in the
area soon caused the city to start
seeking additional classroom space
for students, and ultimately build a
bigger and better school.
By 1907, desks, chairs and
blackboards were moved into the
nearby Ridgewood Park Hotel, which
became an annex for P.S. 68 serving
10 classes. Prior to the opening of the
annex, 24 classes attended P.S. 68,
with the school divided into morning
and afternoon sessions.
After the annex opened, the 14
remaining classes at P.S. 68 were
consolidated into 12 classes, and the
school resumed full-day sessions.
However, as the building boom
continued in the area, by the fall
of 1907, ten more classes had to be
formed — and P.S. 68 was back to
having divided sessions.
A new four-story brick building
for P.S. 68, which began construction
years earlier, was finally completed
in March 1908. The classes were
promptly shifted into the modern
school which had 24 classrooms.
Shortly after the new school
opened, the Evergreen Board of
Trade (the neighborhood adjacent
to the school was then known
as Evergreen) organized a flag
presentation at the P.S. 68 auditorium
on April 10, 1908. The elaborate
program included a performance
by the Hebrew Orphan Asylum band
and a speech by Joseph DeBragga, the
commissioner of sewers in Queens
County. Pupils from grades four
through eight presented various
selections.
The P.S. 68 school community
held another grand celebration
in March 2008 as they celebrated
100 years since the current school
building opened. The Ridgewood
Times reported on the occasion in
its March 27, 2008 issue:
The celebrating began with the
start of the current school year, when
students arrived last September to
find that mylar balloons — the kind
found at birthday parties — had been
tied to the fence outside the building at
59-09 St. Felix Ave., a location near the
Ridgewood/Glendale border.
“The teachers brought them,”
explained Anne-Marie Scalfaro, now
in her second year as principal of P.S.
68, regarding the message-bearing
balloons that had greeted students.
It’s an indication of the spirit that
seems to permeate the place, known
as the school where New York Yankees
As Ridgewood’s P.S. 68 celebrated its centennial year in 2008, how teachers looked 100 years ago was demonstrated
by (from left) Kathleen Murphy, assistant principal; Karen Gleason, assistant principal; Anne-Marie Scalfaro,
principal; and Sandra Renda, third-grade teacher. Ridgewood Times archives
legend Phil Rizzuto was a student and
Elsie O’Connor, the mother of actor
Carroll O’Connor, was a teacher.
Asked to cite the one thing about
P.S. 68 that someone outside its
community would be unlikely to know,
the principal was quick to respond.
“The staff—we have a staff of teachers
who are dedicated to teaching children
and who are supportive of other
teachers,” said Scalfaro, who had been
a teacher at Ridgewood’s I.S. 93....
Since that first day of school last
September, every month at P.S. 68
has seen some special event or
activity that’s tied in some way to the
centennial while reflecting something
particular to the month.
To kick things off in flying fashion,
September saw a “Wishes on Wings”
event in which children assembled
outside to release 100 butterflies
that had been purchased solely for
that purpose. The live butterflies
had been contained in small bluecolored
packets. In conjunction
with the release, the children
made their wishes, written onto
paper butterflies.
October was harvest time and
children harvested facts about P.S. 68,
which they wrote on pumpkins.
It was a star spangled dance routine
as these kindergartners got into “The
Swim” of things at P.S. 68’s recent
International Dance Festival event.
For November, children listed 100
reasons why they are thankful. In
December, they watched A Christmas
Carol and entered into a discussion
about the past, present and future.
January meant ringing in the New
Year with resolutions, followed by
February’s writing on hearts why it’s
easy to love coming to school at P.S. 68.
In addition, the 100th Day of School
was acknowledged during February.
March, a month known for
shamrocks, inspired a listing of 100
reasons why the school’s population
is lucky to be at P.S. 68.
Apr il has brought a
showering of poems about the
venerable institution....
Not so long ago, there were
approximately 1,100 students enrolled.
Most did their learning at the main
building on St. Felix Avenue, while
two upper grades attended an annex
where Wertheimer was assistant
principal, located on Cypress Avenue
at the former site of the Ridgewood
post office. P.S. 87 in Middle Village
provided space for another annex, one
that served kindergartners.
Improvements with structural
changes to the main building—among
them, the conversion of specialized
rooms such as the boys’ workshop
and girls’ sewing room into
classrooms—plus the construction of
a mini-building extension were factors
in easing overcrowding. In addition,
the opening of a new Ridgewood
school, P.S. 239, and a rezoning of
Glendale’s P.S. 91 reduced the numbers
at P.S. 68....
Just as she is quick to credit the
people who work at P.S. 68, Scalfaro
is grateful for the contributions of her
parent volunteers. She mentioned the
success of a recent Family Bingo event,
sponsored by the Parents Teachers
Association, and the part that parents
played in a celebration of the birthday
of Dr. Seuss. Parents also take part in
a Family Field Day in June.
Among other P.S. 68 events,
activities and programs, Scalfaro
cited the Parents Crafts Club, a
program that makes the facilities of
the school library available to parents,
and a program that includes a math
workshop for parents for whom
English is a second language.
In addition to the various events
that call for parental involvement,
there’s the School Leadership Team in
which a group of parents and teachers
meet on a monthly basis.
When it comes to building success
at a school, “It’s a team effort,”
Scalfaro beamed.
Sources: The Sept. 4, 1986 and
March 27, 2008 Ridgewood Times.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood:
The Way It Was” that you would
like to share with our readers,
please write to the Old Timer, c/o
Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email
to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com.
Any print photographs mailed to
us will be carefully returned to you
upon request.
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