Situated on Woodcliff Avenue is a reminder of education in the old days. In the midst of the current Woodcliff Middle School campus is a small stone structure that once stood alone at the site as Woodcliff Public School. It’s the oldest continually operating school building in Bergen County, having opened on Sept. 9, 1895.
After the Borough of Woodcliff broke off from Washington Township to incorporate in 1894, the first local board of education meeting soon followed. There was an important matter at hand: securing a piece of land upon which to build the borough’s very own schoolhouse. Resident G.M. Fairchild came through with an offer to donate a parcel of land to the community.
The entire school cost less than $2,500 to build. It had one classroom, which contained 26 student desks, three chairs, and a desk for the teacher. Miss Fannie M. Casine was the first teacher, and she received an annual salary of $60.
The school building was often rented out to local organizations in order to raise money for necessities. The school’s second teacher, Mr. H. L. Terry, took over in 1897 and started a library fund. In the 1898–1899 school year, families raised $24.13 toward the fund, and this, coupled with a $20 grant from the state, enabled the purchase of a bookcase that became the school’s library.
By 1900 there were 329 people living in Woodcliff. Of these, 83 were school-age children from 5 to 16. Still, only about 40 kids attended school on any given day. Those were days before compulsory attendance laws, when chores around the farm might take precedence over the three Rs.
—Kristin Beuscher
