by Elizabeth Folberth

Oct. 5, 2022: On a recent Sunday afternoon, five Bronxville School students from classes in the 1950s gathered around a table at Laura Stichter’s home to reminisce about their time at the Bronxville School. Bob Riggs (’51), Laura Stichter (’52), and Bob Wein (’53), plus Corky Frost and Dick Bower (both Class of ’52 who finished their last two high school years at prep school) came together as part of the school’s 100th anniversary celebration. Their experiences of the school from some of its earliest days until mid-century provide insights into the impact the school has had on its students from its inception.

Although they were likely unaware of it at the time, these alums were part of a grand experiment in progressive education for which the Bronxville School was known. One of its main objectives was to educate the “whole child” to attend to physical and emotional as well as educational growth. The school was conceived as a laboratory in which the child was to take an active part—learning through doing. Bronxville’s history as a beacon in the progressive education movement is recounted in depth in Claudia Keenan’s book Portrait of a Lighthouse School: Public Education in Bronxville, New York, published in 1997 in honor of the school’s 75th anniversary.

These alums recalled with affection many of the remarkable teachers they encountered. Corky Frost’s recollection of Julia Markham, principal of the elementary school from 1923 to 1954, was that she “ruled very effectively, with an iron but velvet-gloved fist.” Bob Riggs concurred: “Julia Markham hired and inspired my favorite elementary school teachers: Marie Merrill, Mary Case (who corrected my dyslexia), and Anna Greve.”

Creativity was emphasized in their elementary school years. Mary Allen Tippett made arts and crafts an important part of the curriculum. Rhythm classes involving creative movement with props such as chiffon scarves were the brainchild of Doris Canfield, who had studied with Isadora Duncan. According to recollections in Claudia Keenan’s book, students were encouraged to “Be a butterfly!” or “Leap over the fence!” Laura Stichter recalls the big event of the year involved Ms. Canfield standing in the middle of the room, swinging a cloth ball in circles for the students to jump over

During the reign of drama teacher Dorothy Day, there were annual Gilbert & Sullivan operettas as well as yearly plays put on by the junior and senior classes. Most of the high school was involved. Bob Wein recalls that the baseball team was told to go directly from practice to sign up for the upcoming musical. Corky Frost played French horn in the orchestra, which accompanied most of the shows. In 1950, the junior Class put on As You Like It. As junior class president, Bob Riggs was asked to give an introduction before the play. Afterward, his English teacher, Mrs. Haig, came backstage and told Bob, “We couldn’t hear a word you said,” and sent him back to do it all over again. He still has nightmares about that.

Laura Stichter has fond memories of being head cheerleader (years later her daughter would become a cheerleader as well). Bob Riggs has not-so-fond memories of playing football in junior high and pitting his 60-pound body against brick walls such as Bud Hansen. There was sledding on Young’s Hill, ice skating on the Bronxville Lake, and parties every Friday or Saturday night beginning in 10th grade, where Bob Riggs remembers happily dancing “cheek-to-cheek.”

Academics were important, but the work did not seem too stressful. Bob Wein recalls that no one prepared for the SATs, and “I don’t think the school even gave us our scores.” Helen Brickell, their college counselor, was well-known by most colleges and seemed to find places for everyone to thrive.

Small classes (Bob Wein’s year had only 86 or 87 students) led to close friendships, many lasting to this day, and quite a few marriages, with many couples moving back to Bronxville to raise their own families. The group agreed that they were lucky to grow up in this village, during a relatively peaceful time, with superb, caring teachers, parents who gave them a lot of freedom, and a school atmosphere nearly devoid of pressure.