We’re more than half way through August now and I really appreciate the 105 degree temperatures here in Tucson. That’s because I went to a Word Press conference in Phoenix for two days this week and it was 115 there!
It’s also the weekend so time for the newest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver:
1) Do you have any records of your ancestors’ schooling, such as report cards, yearbooks, or photos?
While I have most of my own school report cards and photos, I have little in the way of ancestral school records aside from yearbook photos from earlier family members.
My Dad:
Dad graduated from Passaic High School, Passaic, New Jersey. Not only has this school been torn down, its replacement, built in the 1950s, is being torn down this year to be replaced by yet another building.
My Mom, Doris Priscilla Adams:
Mom graduated from Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood, New Jersey. This building is still in use.
My paternal grandfather, George Kucharik aka Sabo, recieved a school leaving certificate when he finished 8th grade.
School #2 later became the parish school for St. Michael’s Cathedral. The school is the building just behind the rectory. After St. Michael’s closed the school, the city of Passaic rented it back as School #2 for quite a few years, but it has been permanently closed now, although still standing.
My grandfather, Vernon Tarbox Adams:
Grandfather graduated from Calais Academy in Calais, Maine:
Calais Academy burned down and was replaced by a Calais High School building.
That’s it. My grandmother Hazel had to leave school after her mother died when she was 16. My grandmother Julia had no opportunity to attend school past 4th grade in Udol, Slovakia and I have no earlier school records for other ancestors.
Thank you to Randy and Lisa Gorrell for this fun idea. It’s just a coincidence that I chose a similar topic for my post tomorrow!
What was the intended purpose of a school leaving certificate? I’ve never heard of one before.
They are much more common in England. However, I think it just provided proof of the number of grades completed in school. George would have been off to work in the factories.
Even if you don’t have report cards, etc., you still have a lot of knowledge about where they went to school and what became of the schools.
It’s great to see what these schools looked like back in the day. I also never saw a “leaving school” cert but I also recall that in Northeast states, teens often needed “working papers” (documents showing age etc) before they could be hired at a job. The leaving school cert shows his birth date (“given as”) so that may have been the purpose.
I have not seen “leaving school” certificates but have seen “certificate of completing 8th grade” papers, also for 5th or 6th grades, depending on the last grade of elementary school. I love that you found photos of the schools they attended.
Very cool photos, of both your ancestors and the schools they attended. I am familiar with school leaving certificates, but didn’t realise they were also issued in some areas of the US.