Stepping into Historic Rochester

Stepping into Historic Rochester. Schools. , Remarkable General Abner Lacock, Beaver County's first justice of the peace, a statesman in Pennsylvania and national government, a decision-maker in the War of 18 12 and Rochester resident, had little opportunity for formal education. Yet the idea of educational opportunity was so significant to him that he noted in his 1796 ledger when a one-room school near the mouth of the Beaver River, taught by John Bean, first brought formal education to Rochester. With this small start, Rochester ushered in an emphasis on education for future generations. Several other one-room schools would dot the area, educating the leaders who propelled Rochester into the era of public schools. The first public school board organized on May 22, 1849, and hired two teachers for a two-room schoolhouse at the corner of Jefferson Street and Connecticut Avenue. By 1862, educational efforts would give rise to Rochester's first public school and its subsequent evolution into the contemporary classrooms of the Rochester Area School District., Adams Street High School 1916 , Once again overcrowding prompted construction of a larger school. The new Adams Street High School, at the corner of Adams Street and Ohio Avenue, opened on May 20, 1916, and served as the Rochester High School for 45 years., Jefferson Street School 1862 , The Jefferson Street School, completed in 1862, originally consisted of four rooms built on property purchased in the Second Ward. An additional four rooms were added in 1868., Lacock School 1892 , Located in East Rochester on property donated by the Lacock heirs, the one-room Lacock School needed two more rooms in 1900. The school was referred to by its students as the "Pickle School" because of a tree in the schoolyard which bore pickle-like fruit. The school, housing grades 1 through 8, had two bells - one to announce school was in session; the other to signify an emergency in the tiny borough., Fry Glass School 1928 , The Fry Glass School in North Rochester was established for the children of the plant's employees to learn English. It was used as a public school while the Pfeiffer School was being built in 1929., 1960-1961 Rochester Area K-12 School Complex , This building at the corner of Virginia Avenue and Reno Street was the first completed part of an all-embracing educational complex for a "student-oriented school district." The second phase of the Rochester Area Junior-Senior High School, finished in 1971, led to old buildings being "retired" and the school became a K-12 all-inclusive educational complex that continues to meet the needs of Rochester students., Adams Street School 1885 , As Rochester expanded, the school directors erected a four-room schoolhouse at the corner of Adams Street and Virginia Avenue in the Third Ward in 1885. As the town grew, four more rooms were added in 1891. From 1886 to 1897, a night school accommodated children unable to attend during the day., Sheridan School Late 1800 , The Sheridan School, a one-room schoolhouse on Rochester Road, served elementary school children in the Township until it closed in 1939., Adams Street Extension School and Pfeiffer School 1929 , Adams Street Extension School on Adams Street and Pfeiffer School on Virginia Avenue, built in 1929 during the Depression, served Township elementary students until the 1970s., High School 1890 , Before 1990, most of Rochester's secondary students attended the Piersol Academy in West Bridgewater. On June 2, 1890, the Rochester School Board resolved to establish a high school. Classes met on the second floor of the Jefferson Street building until 1902., Pinney Street School 1902 , As Rochester continued to develop and the Jefferson Street High School became overcrowded, a new school on Pinney Street opened in 1902. High school students attended classes on the second floor while elementary students met on the first floor. In 1914, this school suffered a devastating fire, forcing students to attend school in church classrooms until its repair. Upon re-opening, the school became a junior-senior high school housing grades 7-12., Private Schools, St. Cecelia Catholic School 1886 , Rochester's first Catholic school, St. Cecelia School, was started by Father Joseph Flechinger in a vacated carpenter shop on Adams Street in January 1886. These rough accommodations led to a one-room building erected on Jackson Street and opening in September 1886. Severe overcrowding prompted the construction of a new 8-classroom brick building at the corner of Jackson Street and New York Avenue and opening in September 1926. Economic difficulties forced the school's closure in 1970., Beaver Valley Christian Academy 1977 , Begun in Monaca in 1976, the Beaver Valley Christian Academy moved to the old Adams Street Rochester High School in 1977 and purchased it the following year. The K-12 program operated until 2002.