West Friendship Elementary

West Friendship Elementary School is an elementary school in West Friendship, Maryland and is a part of the Howard County Public School System. The school was opened in 1925 and serviced grades 1-9. Now, in its 83rd year, it services grades K-5 and runs a regional ALS (Alternative Life Skills) program. Their mascot is a tiger and the school colors are green and white. For the 2008-2009 school year, the principal is Mrs. Corita Oduyoye and the Assistant principal is Mrs. Trish Lannon. [ [http://wfes.hcpss.org] ]

chool History

Local farmers helped dig the original site by using horse drawn scoops back in 1925. It was called the West Friendship Consolidated High School and it united several local one-room schoolhouses into one building servicing grades 1 - 9. The school was two stories high and had six classrooms with a center hall running down the middle of each floor. In 1928, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades were added. The first graduation class of 1930 consisted of thirteen students. [ [http://wfes.hcpss.org] ]

There were a total of one hundred students who attended the original school in 1925 and the first principal was a full time teacher. He often had to do triple duty by substituting for another teacher who was sick, as well as carry on his normal job requirements. If a teacher were absent from one of the lower grades, an older student would sometimes take charge. In order to qualify as a teacher, one could begin teaching immediately after high school at the age of seventeen or eighteen. That meant that teachers were often only a year or two older than some of their students. There were no vice principals until the 1930's. [ [http://wfes.hcpss.org] ]

Children often walked to school, were driven to school, or used a Huckster Bus for transportation. Huckster buses were vegetable and produce trucks with open sides. Each bus held 20 to 25 children and parents had to pay two dollars for the service. In 1928, Howard County offered bus service for its students. Lunches were not provided, so children brought a lunch, went home to eat, or went to Amos’s house next door where they could buy lunch for 15 to 20 cents. [ [http://wfes.hcpss.org] ]

The West Friendship area grew and grew over the next few decades and the school became an elementary school, housing grades one through seven and then kindergarten through fifth grade. The school underwent renovations in 1950, 1962, 1971, 1978, 2002, and 2003. In 2002, West Friendship became a regional center for an Academic Life Skills program that serves students with multiple needs. Intensive instruction in the areas of functional academics, personal management, community living, communication, and interpersonal skills are emphasized in this wonderful program. In 2006, they began their first year with full-day kindergarten. In 2007, they became a MD certified "Green School." [ [http://wfes.hcpss.org] ]

References

External Links

[http://www.hcpss.org Howard County Public School System]

[http://www.hcpss.org/schools/profiles/profile_es_WestFriendship.pdf WFES Profile]

[http://wfes.hcpss.org/ WFES Website]

[http://www.co.ho.md.us/PortalServices/HCG_Portal_Communities_WestFriendship.htm History of the City of West Friendship]

[http://www.maeoe.org/ Maryland Green Schools Program]