As Town Meeting approaches and the Gerry School feasibility study with it, I thought it would be helpful to visit one of the older schools still in use in Massachusetts having been built in 1906. I visited the grounds of the Gerry School on Wednesday and was joined there by two local photographers I greatly admire – Rick Ashley and Jared Charney. While Jared shot photos with kids in them to give the place a sense of life and add some scale, Rick shot from the first floor having recently injured his achilles while receiving an award for his photography at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Meanwhile, I explored the old building trying to find scenes to share.
One of the first things I noticed was this stairway mural which wound around the main stairwell and featured familiar scenes from childhood books. Unable to take it all in with a single image, I created this panorama to capture the mural against the teal blue wall with old windows allowing light to pour in. I came away from my hour spent at the school with a sense of claustrophobia (it really is an incredibly small space for what it is currently used for) as well as amazement at the ingenuity of staff and teachers in making the most of this old building and providing the children in this town with a great early education.
I’ll have more images of the Gerry School coming next week.
Peter Schalck
those murals are absolutely amazing. Magical!
Sure has changed since I started in 1947! Still have K-Class picture with 45 kids starting.
My Mom painted these beautiful murals! However, not many know that my Dad also painted some of the characters too! Countless kids, and adults, have enjoyed getting lost in their imagination because of these fabulous works of art. Never ever lose arts in schools, public places, or in your own home!!
That mural is so cool
Awesome!!
How did I not know that??? So awesome!
What year was this painted?
The mural, the architectural details, and the bones of the building are gorgeous!
However, just like the old Glover, the scale and features of the buildings sadly do not serve the educational needs of our children today. We must continue with upgrading our school buildings to best serve the needs of our kids.
My daughter teaches there and loves it. I believe we should go through with the plan to renovate as it is perfect for little ones?
Sooo agree!!
Part of the MHS Class of 1960 started here in 1947 with 45 students.
So different from my days in the 40s!
The Gerry is so worth renovating and saving!! It is a jewel. I worked hard 20 years ago to help save the Gerry. Hopeful that Marblehead will do the right thing and renovate this architectural gem. So afraid greed will take over and a developer will turn it in to condos.
We saved the Gerry once, we need to do it again! My little girls will hopefully be able to start their education at the same place their dad/aunt/uncle did
Yes we did Dylan!
?
Beautiful murals….. on non ADA compliant stairs.
No reason kids can’t still learn what they need to in places like this. That was my first school in marbleberry, 3rd grade! Seeing that pic takes me back to running up those stairs late for class!