Wyndcroft School celebrates 100 years

The Wyndcroft School in Pottstown is celebrating its 100th academic year and along the way, administration has planned some exciting events to help commemorate the occasion.

“We began our celebrating as soon as January of 2018,” said Head of School Gail Wolter. “This is actually the 100th academic year, but we did do some things even last spring including some centennial work with our kids, explaining what it is and how proud we are of our heritage but we have some major celebrations this year.”

The school year started off with a 5K run and family fun fair for the community in September. On Monday, the school held a birthday party for its students complete with cake, candles, balloons and more. Students had the chance to “walk through a time machine” where they learned about different eras and got to take part in children’s games associated with that era. They then celebrated the special birthday outside with cake, party favors and other celebratory activities.

The school certainly has plenty to celebrate. Over the course of 100 years, The Wyndcroft School has been what some administrators call a “hidden gem” and has been quietly adapting and serving the needs of the Pottstown community since 1918.

“I hear from folks all the time, ‘I never knew Wyndcroft was here. I’ve lived in Pottstown my whole life and I didn’t know Wyndcroft was here,’” said Wolter.

Beginning only as a small group of young students on a porch on the grounds of The Hill School, the school has a storied history of innovation in education.

“In 1916, Dwight Meigs, the headmaster, had a little daughter named Marcia. He wanted to hire a tutor for Marcia and so that she wouldn’t be lonely, he engaged some of the other parents

to add children so that they could get a little nursery school,” explained Robert Evans, director of development at The Wyndcroft School. “By 1918, 100 years ago, these nursery school children had aged into kindergarten and that’s when they founded the Pottstown Open Air School, which was later renamed Wyndcroft.”

The Pottstown Open Air School started out at a time when influenza, measles, mumps and tuberculosis epidemics were taking place across the nation. It was believed at the time that fresh air was the best way to prevent the spread of disease.

“The idea was that buildings were heated too much and there was too much possibility of spreading germs, which actually made a certain amount of sense,” said Evans. “So when they started they held classes in re-purposed sun porches and things in one of the big old houses at The Hill School. They held their classes in places that were not terribly well heated for the most part. Children brought blankets and other things to keep warm.”

Within four years of starting the school, it was renamed The Wyndcroft School and had become so popular that the parents purchased a rural property on which to expand. According to the school’s website, “scientifically designed buildings built for the comfort and convenience of the children,” were constructed on the space. By 1925 the school consisted of 50 students and five teachers. The buildings soon expanded to include “five outdoor bungalows, a school building with a large assembly room, office, classroom, [and] well-equipped kitchen and dining-room where the children have their noon meal.”

As new headmasters came through, particularly Mabel Day Steele who served as headmaster from 1925 to 1948, the school took a different approach to education. The school shifted from a focus on fresh air and physical activity to include a curriculum more focused on academic training that would prepare students to attend the best secondary schools and colleges. Their reputation was also aided later by Carlisle Snively’s tenure as headmaster between 1948 and 1980. Snively worked to expand Wyndcroft’s reputation by adding several new classrooms and athletic fields.

Now, although the school’s grounds and curriculum have significantly changed, faculty say there are still some similarities between its current state and its beginnings.

“We’ve always had a really great outdoor education program and we do encourage our teachers and they do have a lot of lessons outdoors still when the weather is nice,” said Wolter. “Now you could hear a music class outside and they’re doing their bucket drums or you’ll see an English class doing their novel study outside on a nice day or you might see a lower school math class out on the playground measuring angles. We do try to bring in the outdoors again. I do see, not that we’ve come full circle, but I do see some parallels from how we started long ago.”

Perhaps what faculty are most proud of in the 100 years of history at the school is the result its legacy has had on the students.

“One of the things I think I’m proudest of in all of the years I’ve been here is that when students graduate from Wyndcroft, whatever their next step is, they really embrace the leadership traits that we’ve instilled in them over the years,” said Wolter. “They’re poised, they’re confident, they’re on the stage multiple times in their career and they’re not afraid to tackle anything.”

The school will be giving former students and community members a chance to reconnect and learn more about the school at the end of the month as part of their centennial celebrations. On Oct. 27, the Wyndcroft School will be holding their Centennial Gala at Meredith Manor, 2270 Pottstown Pike. Tickets are $100 each and the event is black tie optional. To RSVP visit www.wyndcroft.org/ support/gala.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WYNDCROFT SCHOOL The Wyndcroft School, located at 1395 Wilson Street, Pottstown,celebrates its 100th academic year in 2018.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WYNDCROFT SCHOOL Students were all smiles earlier this month as they enjoyed cake and other treats in celebration of The Wyndcroft School’s 100th academic year.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WYNDCROFT SCHOOL Pictured is the original Wyndcroft School that opened in 1918. The school began as the Pottstown Open Air School, later changing its name to The Wyndcroft School.