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Berwyn Heights in Prince George's County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Schools of Berwyn Heights

Pride of the Community

 
 
Schools of Berwyn Heights Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 19, 2023
1. Schools of Berwyn Heights Marker
Inscription.
Pine Grove Academy was the first public school to serve the area. It opened in 1889, about a year after the first homes were built in the new development of Charlton Heights, later incorporated as the Town of Berwyn Heights. The one-room school was made mostly from pine logs and sat on the property where the Friends Community School now stands. It had no running water and only a pot-bellied stove for heat. Teacher Benjamin Pritchard taught all subjects to all grade levels.

By 1920, Pine Grove Academy was too small for Berwyn Heights' growing population. Parents petitioned the Prince George's County school system for a new school. Berwyn Heights resident John J. Kleiner II paved the way for it's construction when he sold the school system land for only $400. A new two-room school opened on Keleher Avenue (now 5814 Ruaton Street) in 1922, with Principal Mary Culberton and teacher Kathryn Stein Teaching Grades 1-3 in one room and grades 4-7 in the other.

With the onset of the post war baby boom in the early 1950s, the number of students swelled such that grades 4-7 had to be moved to the nearby Branchville School. Berwyn Heights parents again lobbied the school system for a new elementary school. To prove the necessity for a larger school, the PTA and the Berwyn Heights Civic Association carried out
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a door-to-door census of resident children. The effort was rewarded when the school system purchased the former St. Ann's Orphanage property at the top of Pontiac Street, and in 1958 opened a state-of-the-art, six-room school with an auditorium.

With declining enrollment in Prince George's County Public Schools during the 1970s, Berwyn Heights Elementary School was closed in 1981 over the vigorous protests of Berwyn Heights parents and Town Council. The county declared the facility as surplus, enabling the State of Maryland to buy it for $1.00. From 1987 to 2001, it housed the Maryland Fire & Rescue Institute of the University of Maryland.

By the early 1990s, the children of baby boomers were flooding back into schools. Ann Harris Davidson, a Berwyn Heights resident, recognized that the time was right to press for the reopening of the town's elementary school. She marshaled the support of families with young children and the town's elected officials. The Town Council established the Berwyn Heights Education Advisory Committee (BH-EAC), led by Ms. Davidson, and in the space of six years they brought about the re-opening of the school. The BH-EAC again conducted a door-to-door census to convince the school system that a school was needed, unaware that the same approach had been used 40 years earlier. Among other findings, the census showed an astonishing dispersion
Schools of Berwyn Heights Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 19, 2023
2. Schools of Berwyn Heights Marker
of students in the absence of a local school: 360 school-age children then living in Berwyn Heights attended 61 different schools or were home-schooled.

A modernized and enlarged Berwyn Heights Elementary School reopened in August 2002 to the cheers of the community. The school proved a great attraction for families and revitalized the town. To honor Ms. Davidson's work, the school established the Ann Harris Davidson Community Service Award, given each year to an outstanding student volunteer.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Education. A significant historical month for this entry is August 2002.
 
Location. 38° 59.506′ N, 76° 54.561′ W. Marker is in Berwyn Heights, Maryland, in Prince George's County. Marker can be reached from Pontiac Street west of 63rd Avenue, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6200 Pontiac St, College Park MD 20740, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. La Belle Avenue (within shouting distance of this marker); Town of Berwyn Heights (approx. 0.2 miles away); Carrington Avenue (approx. 0.2 miles away); Edmonston Road (approx. 0.2 miles away); Duncanson Avenue (approx. 0.3 miles away); Berwyn Heights Association (approx. 0.3 miles away); Charlton Avenue
Dedication plaque nearby image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), February 19, 2023
3. Dedication plaque nearby
(approx. 0.3 miles away); Washington Spa Spring & Gretta Railroad (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Berwyn Heights.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 20, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 20, 2023, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 96 times since then and 10 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on February 20, 2023, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.

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Mar. 28, 2024