It was an average winter day on December 29th when a not so average event took place. Dozens of former teachers, students and friends of Roosevelt School gathered to reacquaint and reminisce over their common bond of a school that is soon to pass into history.
The East Ward School was completed in 1912 and renamed for President Theodore Roosevelt in 1920. The elementary school served as an anchor for the East Newark community for decades before closing in 1976. It then lent its name to the Roosevelt Children’s Center, which subsequently occupied the building before moving to their current home on Pierson Ave.
Among the attendees were former Roosevelt teachers Beulah Smith Tiebout, Linda Brongo, Anna Moens and Eileen Godfrey. Seated in the front was Dorothy DeWispelaere DeMay, an early former student and prominent Historical Society member.