Bear Tavern Elementary School’s former principals helped celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary on May 31.
The school dedicated a new gazebo and unveiled new artwork at an end of the year picnic.
Three of the school’s past principals -Lloyd Newbaker (1962 to 1966), Jeff Corelli (1984 to 1986) and Richard Scheetz (1986 to 2003)– joined current principal Bruce Arcurio in the celebration.
A crowd gathered to honor the school’s history with music, art and speeches.
Newbaker, who went on to work at the New Jersey Department of Education, made note of the school’s predecessor: the Scotch Road School #6, which was housed in an old Navy hospital at Mercer County Airport just after World War II.
“Facilities were a little sparse, but we had a great spirit and a great vision, and it does my heart good to see that spirit is still alive,” Newbaker said.
He also spoke about the rocky beginnings of the Bear Tavern School, when a rare tornado came up the Delaware River in the summer of 1962 and blew the roof off the new facility.
“We put the school back together and opened three weeks late, and from that day forward, we’ve always striven to have a top notch school,” he said. “Of all the years I’ve been in education, I think this is my favorite place.”
Arcurio opened up the school’s cornerstone that was last opened at the school’s 25th anniversary. Its contents included a program, a t-shirt and a yearbook from that anniversary celebration.
The cornerstone also contained a teacher’s paystub, the amount of which Arcurio declined to reveal.
The school unveiled was a five-panel mosaic depicting each of the five decades of Bear Tavern’s existence during the picnic. Bear Tavern art teacher Joslyn Johnson and artist-in-residence Jessica Gorlin-Liddell designed the mosaics, which were crafted by the staff and students at the school.
