Did You Attend Carleton Elementary?

[grumpyoldlady]

Did you attend Carleton Elementary? If so, I'd love to discuss the "good old days at Carleton" here.

I attended Carleton for grades K-8 before moving on to Arthur Jr. High and then to Denby. I was graduated from Carleton in June of '63.

The pictures EMG posted in the "Growing Up In Detroit" thread, that showed the exterior and some interior shots of Carleton brought back loads of memories.

Does anyone have photos of the old "portables" that were classrooms in old, long buildings located out behind the main school building? They were similar to the one used at Denby at least until '67 for Driver Training....not the newer one they brought in later.

[EMG]

Thanks - I've found this thread.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the portables.

I'll continue to watch this thread in case anything else comes up that I can contribute to.

Just a few other memories and thought-starters to possibly jog memories of others out there...

1) There was a teacher, I believe he was a 4th grade math teacher named Mr. Patalunas [[sp?) who passed away in about '70 or '71. I don't know for sure of what but he had been ill for quite a while so my best guess would be cancer of some sort [[teachers didn't explain stuff like that to 4th graders back in those days). Prior to his death, his class was often taught by substitute teacher Mrs. Pierce.

2) There was a student in my 2nd grade class who died after being struck by a car; this would have been during the '67-68 school year. Our homeroom teacher at that time was Mrs. Melvedt. The student's name was Patrick - I won't post his last name on the Internet but I'm sure anyone who knew him will remember as I do.

3) I remember one year there was a "Fun Fest" activity organized on the playfield, sort of like a mini-carnival [[games, but no rides). Students played a big role in planning and putting on the attractions.

4) Remember the fire drills? And, even more fun, the air raid drills? I always liked the rare opportunity to get to see the basement!

5) As I mentioned in the other thread, the principal while I was there was Mildred Swander. I also just now remember the assistant principal - I believe she was a gray-haired lady named Mrs. Baird. And I also remember another teacher, Mrs. Zalopani [[sp?) who taught art in room 107.

By the way, if you like those Carleton pictures, download them now while they're out there. Looking at my profile information it looks like I've used up about half my space; I'm not sure if that means I'm eventually going to reach a limit and have to delete them before adding more. I have plenty of pictures of several neighborhoods around Carleton, Harper Woods, Eastpointe, the Grosse Pointes, etc. etc. that I may post if opportunities present themselves in other threads. [[I would think those would be of more interest to people like me and GrumpyOldLady who have actually left the state. I check Google Earth / Panoramio periodically but I don't see many pictures of northeast Detroit there. It will be really something if and when the area gets Streetview.

[EMG]

By the way, Arthur changed names at least a couple of times taht I know of. I think it was once called Region 7 Middle School or something like that, then Dorothy Fisher school....and possibly other things after that. But it was called Arthur when I was there. I never attended Arthur or Denby as I left DPS to attend University Liggett starting in 6th grade. But I did frequently ride/walk/run by both.

My mother graduated from Denby in the mid-50's.

[grumpyoldlady]

I had Mr. Patelunas for a couple of semesters. He was a real character. He had a doll that he would make a misbehaving boy play with while sitting on the floor of the classroom by the blackboard. He did die of cancer. He lived on Whitehill and his wife was a teacher at Columbus.

I'll rattle off teacher names from when I was at Carleton. Mrs. Greiling and Miss Gale were kindergarten teachers. Miss Ryan, Mrs. Hahn, Mrs. Boyle, Mrs. Foley, Mrs. Melvedt, Mrs Tehan [[sp), Mrs. Van Ryan, Miss Conflitti, Mrs. Palazzolo, Mrs. Hammer, Mrs. Blixberg, Miss. Krupski, Mr. Mercier and Miss Horn. Special classes... Mrs. Knapp [[library). Music teachers in order were Mrs. Heyden, Mrs. Pfeiffer and Miss Miller. Art - Miss Gusta and then Miss Edmunson. Science..Mr. Burns, Mrs. Frankie and Miss Lemke [[lower grades). Social Studies Miss Lemke, Mr. Broquet and Mrs. Knoll. Gym...Mr. Lambka, Mr. West, Miss Glusac, Miss Glavan, Mr. Ignasiak. Auditorium...Mrs. Weyburn and Miss Roberts. Shop..Miss Conachen and Home Economics..Mrs. Hathaway. Subs were Mrs. Wagerly and Mrs Matheson. Custodian was Mr. Ayotte. Principal was Miss Wenzel and Assistant Principal was Mrs. Baird. Office secretary was Mrs. Lanoo.

There was a kitchen fire [[minor) on a super cold January day in 1963. We had to grab our coats and head outside.

The lockers haven't changed at all....same ones, I'm sure. The gym looks SAD...the floor used to be such a pretty light wood color...now it looks dirty, worn and neglected. The auditorium seats seem to be the same ones, too. I remember the elbow battles I had with Bobby Mazzola over the shared armrest.

Well, that's good for starters. I have copied the photos you posted and will forward to some of my Carleton contacts.

[EMG]

You mention a Mrs. Hahn. She wasn't there when I was at Carleton, but I did know a Mrs. Hahn who lived at 10959 Somerset between Britain and Morang - right around the block from me. She and her husband [[Bill Hahn) used to sit out on their porch all the time and I would talk with them. I never knew that Mrs. Hahn's first name or whether or not she was a teacher...but now I wonder if that Mrs. Hahn was the one you remember as a teacher. I'd bet the odds are reasonable.

The Hahns from Somerset eventually moved away to Florida in about '71. I wrote to them for many years, and I believe Mrs. Hahn passed away sometime in the mid to late 80s and her husband sometime thereafter.

[EMG]

Yikes - I wrote a long, long post about the names I remembered of the ones you listed...then went back to edit some details and accidentally deleted the whole post! GRRRR....I'll come back next time and write again. Getting late for me tonight!

[EMG]

I had Mr. Patelunas for a couple of semesters. He was a real character. He had a doll that he would make a misbehaving boy play with while sitting on the floor of the classroom by the blackboard. He did die of cancer. He lived on Whitehill and his wife was a teacher at Columbus.

I'll rattle off teacher names from when I was at Carleton. Mrs. Greiling and Miss Gale were kindergarten teachers. Miss Ryan, Mrs. Hahn, Mrs. Boyle, Mrs. Foley, Mrs. Melvedt, Mrs Tehan [[sp), Mrs. Van Ryan, Miss Conflitti, Mrs. Palazzolo, Mrs. Hammer, Mrs. Blixberg, Miss. Krupski, Mr. Mercier and Miss Horn. Special classes... Mrs. Knapp [[library). Music teachers in order were Mrs. Heyden, Mrs. Pfeiffer and Miss Miller. Art - Miss Gusta and then Miss Edmunson. Science..Mr. Burns, Mrs. Frankie and Miss Lemke [[lower grades). Social Studies Miss Lemke, Mr. Broquet and Mrs. Knoll. Gym...Mr. Lambka, Mr. West, Miss Glusac, Miss Glavan, Mr. Ignasiak. Auditorium...Mrs. Weyburn and Miss Roberts. Shop..Miss Conachen and Home Economics..Mrs. Hathaway. Subs were Mrs. Wagerly and Mrs Matheson. Custodian was Mr. Ayotte. Principal was Miss Wenzel and Assistant Principal was Mrs. Baird. Office secretary was Mrs. Lanoo.

There was a kitchen fire [[minor) on a super cold January day in 1963. We had to grab our coats and head outside.

The lockers haven't changed at all....same ones, I'm sure. The gym looks SAD...the floor used to be such a pretty light wood color...now it looks dirty, worn and neglected. The auditorium seats seem to be the same ones, too. I remember the elbow battles I had with Bobby Mazzola over the shared armrest.

Well, that's good for starters. I have copied the photos you posted and will forward to some of my Carleton contacts.

OK, let's see now. Our kindergarten teachers were Mrs. Tenatse [[sp?) and Ms. Neopolitan. Mrs. Hahn I mentioned in my post last night. Mrs. Foley I had forgotten all about but now I remember her now that you brought her name up. Never had her, but wasn't she short with graying black hair? Sort of like s short Maxwell House Lady? Mrs. Van Ryan really spelled her name Mrs. Van Ryn and I imagine it was properly pronounced "Van RIN" but everybody called her and thought of her as Mrs. Van RYAN. I had forgotten Mr. Mercier - again, never had him, but can visualize him now that you've mentioned him. Sort of like an older, taller Joe Garagiola if I recall. I also believe he taught in room 118. [[I have more of an affinity for numbers than names and faces, as you may be beginning to see...) Miss Horn I remember was in room 111 right across the stairwell from the library, but I wonder if her name wasn't really spelled Horne with an extra e at the end? Not sure about that. The only music teacher there during my time there was Irene Miller, and she was great and one of my favorites. Of course music was about my favorite class because it came naturally to me - I played the piano by ear, and Mrs. Miller often let me come up and play for the class which I loved as I was a real ham. I also sing well and was in Mrs. Miller's glee club. The only gym teachers I ever knew were Mr. Ignasiak and Miss Osgood. I had Mrs. Franke for science [[but I thought it was spelled as I did, without the I, again, could be wrong, but...) Mrs. Weyburn during my time I believe had room 116 and was in charge of the duty [[patrol) boys. Wouldn't it have been something if she had lived on Wayburn street which was a few blocks west of the school? I never knew her to have "auditorium." During my last coule of years there we had a Mrs. Lackey for auditorium, and I understand that about the time I left in '72 she left Carleton to take a teaching job at Wayne Elementary which was south of Whittier in the same general area. My shop teacher in 5th grade was Mr. Freeman.

A couple others I remember were Mrs. Grant - blonde hair and taught speech therapy in room 208. Also Mrs. Jones, young brunette who taught math in room 211. Mrs. Jones I later found out lived on Balfour between Morang and Britain, as a few years after leaving Carleton I went to a garage sale on that block and found it it was Mrs. Jones holding the sale! I remember Miss Conflitti and of course Mrs. Melvedt, who was my 2nd grade teacher. One of my friends at the time used to live on Lakepoint, east side of the street and about fifth house south of Morang [[big house that at the time was painted green), and told me that Mrs. Melvedt lived in the house immediately next door and south of him.

Interesting that Mr. Patalunas lived on Whitehill - I also had family on Whitehill beteen Grayton and Britain. Do you know just where Mr. Patalunas lived on Whitehill, or at least between what streets? Boy it would have been interesting if he had been "almost a neighbor" and I never knew it! If you or anyone remember where any of the teachers whose names I mentioned lived at the time, I'd sure be interested in knowing!

I don't remember the "playing with dolls by the chalkboard" - but I was always one of the good boys who got all of the citizenship ribbons for doing what the teacher said. It didn't do much for my popularity with some of my peers but my teachers all liked me!

[grumpyoldlady]

The description you give for Mrs. Foley sounds right. I'm going to dig out my old report cards and look at Mrs. Van Ryn's name, lol. I can't believe I spelled it wrong. When I was there. Miss Horn [[correct spelling), was in the room across the hall from the Shop room, right by the Casino door. Mr. Mercier was next to Miss Horn in .the second door from the entrance. The room across the stairway from the Library was Mrs. Knoll...she would stand in the hall swinging a bull whip as classes passed. She also had a paddle that she'd occasionally use, and she was a dead shot with an eraser. Since her room was right across from the drinking fountain, she would take aim and let fly with an eraser and almost always hit somebody in the butt.

I remember Miss Miller's first name as being Isabelle, but I'm probably wrong. She was WONDERFUL. She came to Carleton after being one teachers or accompanist at Denby. I remember she had been in charge of the boys choir at Denby. I will never forget how she'd sit on that bench and sort of bounce as she played. She was the best! I was in what was called "junior chorus" and then "senior chorus" from 3rd grade until graduation.

Mrs. Dorothy Weyburn was in charge of the safety patrol when I was there, too. She taught auditorium, and sometimes subbed. I'll have to ask my Carleton friend if we ever had Mrs. Weyburn for any other class. I don't remember it if we did. I once asked her if she lived on Wayburn....because I DID! I lived between Morang and Casino.

No Mrs. Grant or Jones. Miss Rosemary Conflitti was one of my favorite teachers. Rumor had it that she and Mr. Ignasiak were a "thing".

Mr Patelunas lived a couple houses south of Whittier on Whitehill. I don't know where any of those other teachers lived. Did you have Mrs. Knapp for Library? She lived on Cloverly in Grosse Pointe. How about Mrs. Wagerly as a substitute. She was a very overweight woman. Super nice. She had two daughters, Pam and Sally who also were very overweight, as was I. They lived directly across from the Lakepointe entrance. Pam and I were best friends. Mrs. Wagerly eventually got a permanent position as a Kindergarten teacher at Fleming Elementary. Her husband was a history teacher at Gabriel Richard.

What more memories can we drag from the depths?

[Dave70]

I went to Carleton K - 4th grade. My kindergarten year was '76-'77, Mrs. Boyes room 102.

My teacher in first grade was Mrs. Harris [[?) and/or Mrs. Nocita I think [[I may have been shuffled around I think my first grade class was split with a second grade.). Second grade Mrs. Shea and third and forth grade was Mrs. Clark. I didn't like Clark that much, kinda mean she was!

Mr.Ignasiak was gym, I think he must've retired when I was there because I remember a Mr. Mazinga the last year or two.

Mrs, Zalopani was art, she was nice but I remember a strange grinding of teeth or something that she'd do a lot.

Mrs. Bennet was the Librarian.

Mr Bunsen was science, later Mrs. Pappas. I liked her a lot.

Hm, maybe Mrs. Harris was the music teacher, we sang songs in the auditorium...

A lot of the names previously mentioned I recall, but didn't have like Mrs. Conflitti... hehe my mom had her when she went to Carleton!

That's all for now...

[EMG]

Thanks so much for posting, Dave70 - it was great hearing about what went on AFTER I left there. My goodness, in '76-77 I was in tenth grade and my Carleton years seemed like ancient history to me though looking at it now from THIS far in the future, five years sure doesn't seem like as long an amount of time as it was then!

It was interesting hearing about Mr. Ignnasiak retiring about that time, and Mrs. Zalopani still being there as well. I don't remember her "grinding her teeth" but I do remember her as having something more of a "prim and proper" air about her than some of my other teachers - perhaps this stood out in my mind more because she was also relatively young and also young in appearance [[though maybe not as much so by the time you were there) - yet her personality was more what I'd have expected in a much older person. I don't recall any of the other teachers you mentioned being there when I was there. I did have a MISS Harris - young black woman - who was my teacher for part of fourth grade and whom I really liked, but she never taught music, so I don't think that was the same person.

[Dave70]

<yawn> I just got up, drinking my coffee now and remembering Dr. Parlato the principal. I'll never forget her "What are you doing?" and "Please stop it." to curb bad behaviour, the C. E. S. B. announcements too... She was really into her job and I respected her, my freinds and I would sometimes mow the grass and clean up the grounds at the school in the summer and she'd give us treats and maybe a little money. At the time I just wanted to help out and it felt good to do it.

Hehe, I also recall seeing her ride a unicycle at the memorial day[[?) parade on East Warren. That suprised me! My grandfather knew her too, at one time she lived across the street from his house on Riad. [[waay before I was born.)

[EMG]

So perhaps Parlato was the one who succeeded Mildred Swander, the principal when I was there.

What was "C.E.S.B."? Carleton East Side Bulletins? I don't remember that acronym.

[Dave70]

Hehe, the Carleton Elementary School Broadcasting system! Dr. Parlato would make announcements with it, every room had a speaker connected to the office where the mic and controls were.

[EMG]

LOL! I remember those speakers perfectly well - they were there in my day too - but I just never heard them referred to like that.

Certainly, I remember that school-wide announcements were made. Also, the system could be used for communication between the office and an individual room as well. Especially ominous was being in the middle of class and suddenly the private announcement mode kicked in with, "Excuse me Mrs. _______, could you please send EMG down to the office!"

Down the hall I'd go, heart-in-throat wondering what I ever did wrong ....only to find out they just needed to verify that my address was correct in their records.

Here's a request to any school administrator who happens to be reading this - PLEASE have consideration and avoid scaring innocent young children unnecessarily! When they're being called down for innocent reasons, make that clear when making announcements like that!

[grumpyoldlady]

NORWALK....I believe you posted that you had a friend or relative that teaches at Carleton now. We have been trying to get a reply from the principal regarding a reunion tour of the building, but she hasn't responded. Is she one of the principals in trouble and heading to jail? If not, do you think your friend/relative could help us at least get a reply? If so, I can find out which of our committee would have sent the letter to her.

I can't believe the enrollment at Carleton has gotten so low, and also that of Denby. When I was at Denby, it only had grades 10-12, and still had over 2600 students. Now it has grades 9-12, and only around 1200 students. Unreal. The January '67 graduating class had around 300, and the June '67 class had over 600.

Thanks!

[EMG]

Is she one of the principals in trouble and heading to jail?!

Jail? NAWWWW...she's probably just been sentenced to sit on the Big Bad Brown Bench outside her own former office, waiting to be talked to by her own replacement!

[EMG]

HEY GRUMPY OLD LADY!!!!! We need to resuscitate this thread!

Has the Carleton Reunion you were planning taken place yet? Did you manage to go? Did you get any more news to report on Carleton?

[grumpyoldlady]

The reunion has been scheduled, but I'm not going to be able to attend. The committee member will be going to the school to take photos, and then at the dinner, a Power Point presentation will be made showing the photos to those that attend. I'm hoping to get a copy of it on DVD. If I do, I will let you know.

No other news to report at this time.

[EMG]

Maybe the committee member will also be able to use some of my photos!

Please consider uploading any new photos of the school that become available from the reunion. Maybe someone will even be able to get a picture of one of those round "bathtub" sinks! [[When I went as a visitor of course I was escorted around the building and I didn't have the nerve to ask permission to take a picture of the restroom! )

Be sure to let us know whatever you find out from those who attended!

[grumpyoldlady]

Old farmhouse on Rossiter? Don't remember that...where on Rossiter?

[Tsomyak]

Hey all, just found this group. I attended Carleton for Kindergarten and a half year of first grade. I would have been in Kindergarten in 1963. I remember sitting on my mat waiting for dismissal when the announcement was made that President Kennedy had been shot. I'm not 100% sure, but someone else had mentioned the Mrs. Greiling taught kindergarten. That name sure sounds familiar. Does anyone recall what she looked like? I seem to remember a piano in the room as well.

Another memory I have of Carleton is the arts and crafts camps during the summer. I seem to remember doing something in clay and then painting it an having it fired in a kiln. Did anyone else attend those?

[grumpyoldlady]

I had Mrs. Greiling for kindergarten back in the mid 50's. She was a woman probably in her 50's [[or so it seemed to me at the time), a bit heavy set, with brownish hair with some gray mixed in. She was very, very nice. She taught in the " big" kindergarten room. There was a piano in the room, along with a small log playhouse.

I also remember going to school during the summer and making something out of clay...i dont' remember what...that was fired in the art room kiln.

[Tsomyak]

I had Mrs. Greiling for kindergarten back in the mid 50's. She was a woman probably in her 50's [[or so it seemed to me at the time), a bit heavy set, with brownish hair with some gray mixed in. She was very, very nice. She taught in the " big" kindergarten room. There was a piano in the room, along with a small log playhouse.

I also remember going to school during the summer and making something out of clay...i dont' remember what...that was fired in the art room kiln.

I'm almost certain I had Mrs. Greiling then. Your description is exactly how I remember her as well. Thanks!

[EMG]

As promised - the Rossiter Farmhouse - west side of Rossiter, south of Morang. Picture taken in early 2001.

Attachment 2451

[EMG]

And here are the apartments I assume you were talking about. Even though I titled my picture "Lakepoint Apartments" because that's what I thought of them as and it's easier for me to remember, I think they were actually called the "Morang Avenue Apartments." These are on the south side of Morang, I believe between Lakepoint and Rossiter.

Attachment 2452