Saturday Party Celebrates Rupert's 90th Anniversary

The cover of the program from the original dedication ceremony of Rupert school.

We should all be so lucky — to look so good at 90 years old.

But with a shiny new wing, repointed brick and a new roof, Rupert Elementary School — Pottstown's oldest school building — is in pretty good shape.

That's a good thing because Rupert is being thrown a birthday party on Saturday, Sept. 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event will include food trucks with pizza, ice cream, BBQ and snow cones.

Games including a dunk tank, a bounce house, an inflatable obstacle course, bowling, tennis, mini golf, corn hole, Large Jenga, Large Checkers, Large Connect 4 and even free bike helmets will be featured.

Of course, things were probably a bit more subdued on Aug. 29, 1928.

That's when the original dedication was made and according to the original program, there was some music, the "passing of the key" and some speeches, followed by the "Star Spangled Banner" and a benediction.

The groundbreaking had occurred a little more than a year before with "Professor Rupert" digging the first shovel full of dirt.

Rupert School Band, 1938, Elizabeth Jenkins directing

"Professor Rupert" is, of course, William Whitehead Rupert, who had come to Pottstown from Chester County nearly 50 years before. He was Pottstown's very first superintendent of schools and the educator for whom the school is named.

It was 1879 when the Pottstown School Board decided that the high school needed to be divided into two distinct schools "with boys under a male teacher and girls under a female teacher," according to a 2009 article published in The Mercury by local historian Michael T. Snyder.

(Snyder also wrote the Rupert Family History that was included in a time capsule created in 1978 at the school's 50th anniversary and is available online at www.pottsmerc.com.)

Rupert Elementary Fifth Grade, 1952

Although that decision to hire a male teacher for the boys was made in May, it wasn't until Aug. 28 that Rupert arrived in Pottstown and "took rooms at the residence of Dr. and Mrs. Brooke Davis," according to the Aug. 28 1879 edition of The Daily Pottstown Ledger.

At the time, the borough's population was 5,305 and the schools had 709 students and 18 teachers.

At the time, there were only 70 students of high school age and no high school building, so they were taught in several classrooms at the Washington School building at Penn and Beech streets, the site of the current school administration building.

Rupert in 1978, on its 50th anniversary.

In 1888, when parts of "Pottsgrove Township" became part of the borough, the population jumped to more than 13,000 and the number of students also jumped from 1,074 to 1,766, according to Snyder's research.

With the sudden rise in student population, the school board voted unanimously on July 11 of that year to name Rupert as the first superintendent of Pottstown Schools.

So popular and effective was Rupert, that on June 12, 1913, on the occasion of his 25th year as superintendent, a special ceremony was held with testimonials and gifts including a "Russian wallet purse filled containing $100 in gold" and five weeks vacation, Snyder wrote.

Photo by Carol Brightbill

Rupert as it appears today.

In 1922, Rupert reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 and he stepped down, but returned five years later to kick off construction on the school which still bears his name.

The cost of construction? Only $124,849.03.

Over the years, the Tudor-style building has seen several renovations and housed countless teachers and students.

One of those students was Linda Kachel, who was in fifth grade at Rupert in 1952.

Rupert Principal Matt Moyer with some of his students.

A generation later, she sent three sons to Rupert.

Kachel still lives on Queen Street and volunteers in the school as well.

One of those sons grew up to be the principal of Rupert Elementary School — Matthew Moyer.

Moyer will be front and center Saturday when his school celebrates its 90th birthday.

He is currently Pottstown's longest-serving principal and, who knows, may be here to help celebrate the school's 100th birthday as well.