IN Peters Township October/November 2016 | Page 60

Standing Strong
BY NICOLE TAFE

The 90-year-old Venetia Elementary
School’s original building stands proud.

T

his year, the historic Venetia Elementary School building
celebrates its 90th birthday. Located at 800 Venetia Road,
the Venetia Elementary School was built in 1926 on
the eastern side of Peters Township as a grammar school
for children in grades one through eight.
The three-floor structure included four classrooms on
the main floor, two classrooms and a large double room
on the second floor, which had a stage and was used as
an auditorium, and two small rooms on the third floor.
“Back then, there wasn’t a need for a cafeteria,” recalls
Marian Sphar, who attended Venetia School for eight
years and is now the Secretary of the Venetia
Heritage Society (VHS). “Most of us packed
our lunches or lived close enough that
we could walk home for lunch.”
Four glass globe lights hung from
the ceiling in each classroom and
wooden floors that were oiled for
maintenance were installed. School
desks were attached to the floor in
each of the classrooms for the 15 to
20 students per room/grade, and
chalkboards, made of slabs of slate,
lined the classroom walls. “I remember
seeing the custodian, Charlie Wessel,
clean the floors,” says Clayton Sphar,
who attended Venetia School during
his seventh and eighth grade years in
1946-47, and now head