Coast Guard Children

Coast Guard Children. . , For the children of Coast Guard men and women, Governors Island provided ample opportunities for school and for play. The youngest child could attend the Childhood Development Center, located in today’s historic district, or daycare in Castle Williams. Fees for childcare were at times a remarkable $12-$19 per month., P.S. 26, a public school for kindergarten through sixth grade, was maintained by the Coast Guard, but the New York City Board of Education supplied the staff and curriculum. Due to the central location of the school, lunch was not provided and children were expected to go home each day at noon and return after lunch. Teachers at the school had particular experience helping military children who had to adjust to frequent relocations to new schools. Once children reached the seventh grade, many attended public middle schools in Manhattan while a multitude of older kids attended a Staten Island high school., After school, numerous sports fields and programs were available including t-ball, volleyball and classes such as tap dancing and music. Movies, YMCA dance parties, skeet shooting and bowling were some of the structured entertainment the Coast Guard provided. The Island itself acted as a playground for kids of all ages to explore. parents could feel comfortable that their children were in a safe environment., Inevitably, the freedom that resulted led to hijinks among many of the youngsters. Among the many pranks undertaken by Coast Guard children involved secretly loading items in the shaft of the Howitzer (sic) gun used to mark the daily 5:00 PM “retreat.” Projectiles such as golf balls were the shot off to Manhattan when the unwitting MPs fired their guns. Childhood on Governors Island was full of this kind of mischief, adventure and fun.