After more than 30 years, former families, students and staff of Evanston/Skokie School District 65’s Central School will have their first chance to reconnect as a community since the school closed in 1979.
On April 30, the community will reunite at Central School’s original location, 828 Main St., now occupied by D65’s Park School.
Central School closed due to declining enrollment in the school district. It served kindergarteners through fifth-graders. Opened in 1891, Central School was one of Evanston’s oldest educational establishments. Richard Fattes, a former teacher at the school, began organizing the reunion after the 30th anniversary of the school’s closing last June.
“I don’t think people want to miss out because it may never happen again,” he said. “This may be the one and only time to celebrate the history of Central School. It’ll be great to renew the relationships with other students and faculty.”
The reunion will begin at 6 p.m. with a meet-and-greet featuring memorabilia, pictures and slide show presentations. A formal program about the history of the school and a discussion of future projects will follow.
Fattes said the planning committee currently expects between 50 and 100 attendees.
“The memorabilia we have and the long history of the school are really going to surprise people,” he said. “We’re hopeful for a good turnout.”
Brenda De Vaul-Payne, a committee planning member and former student, said she has received a positive response from alumni about the event.
The committee has been using e-mail and networking sites such as Facebook to get in contact with former students and staff members.
Vaul-Payne, who graduated from the school in 1976, said she jumped at the chance to help plan the reunion.
“I’m hoping everything turns out the way we planned, and we just have a good time,” she said. “When the school closed, I was sad because after all of those years when you grow up in that neighborhood, it’s like a part of your history and your family link has been taken away.”
Central School was one of seven elementary schools within D65, which was struggling financially at the time, that closed between 1976 and 1979.
Sherry J. Gold, a retired D65 teacher whose first teaching job was at Central School, said the school was unique for its “multi-level and interdisciplinary work” that placed different age groups and grade levels in the same classroom, depending on skill level.
Gold said the reunion is a way for her to see the progress of the students she once taught.
“It’s important for Evanstonians not to lose their history, not to lose the fact that this school has been an educational part of the community for as long as it has,” she said. “The reunion is going to be a nice trip down memory lane. I think the people who come will be glad they did.”
Future projects envisioned by Fattes include installing a historical marker and plaque in the current Park School, creating a DVD commemorating the school and organizing a possible staff reunion.
