The History of Radnor Schools

Schools existed in Radnor and Wayne long before the Radnor Township School District was officially founded. They were mostly private, and usually managed by local churches. An example of this is the First Baptist Church School located on West Wayne Avenue. Although the church no longer stands at the corner of Conestoga Road and West Wayne Avenue, the small schoolhouse still stands. Another example is the famous Old Eagle School in Strafford. The school still stands, and is open for weekly tours. To the side of the schoolhouse is an old graveyard, which contains the remains of some Revolutionary War soldiers.
With the development of the Wayne community, the need for public schools grew, and in 1889 George W. Childs donated land in central Wayne which he could not develop on. It was swampy, wet land that no one would be able to live on. This, along with its centralized location made it the perfect land on which to give to build a school on . . .

Buildings

Original Public School (later High School)
Audubon Ave. (South Wayne Ave.)
1889 - 1923; revisions ca. 1895, 1901

Almost from the beginning, the first public school in Wayne was inadequate. Built in 1889 on land donated by Drexel & Childs, Wayne’s original schoolhouse was located on South Wayne Avenue across from the Methodist Episcopal Church. It had a central turrett and two side wings, one of which had the date “1889” on the front. In 1893 the building became the High School. Since the building could not hold all the grades of students, Parts of the nearby Union (Masonic) Hall were used, as well as some other buildings around town that were not being used. As early as 1899, a writer in the school's paper wrote, "Why is it that a town as prosperous and progressive as Wayne forces its public school, excellent in other particulars, to remain in buildings inadequate as the present one?"In about 1895 this building was added on to, and again in 1901. In 1908, the Wayne Public Safety Association expressed their concern about the condition of the High School. At the time the School Board believed there was a greater need for a new building to house the lower grades. Later that year it was decided to build a new High School instead. The public school was destroyed to make way for the High School #3.

The school as it appeared in 1889, as it was first built and before any additions.
From "Radnor: A Pictorial History"

The school after its first addition in about 1895. The final addition included the expansion of the entire second floor to cover the same area as the first. The dome was removed and a gable roof was installed.
Radnor Historical Society Collection

The High School as it appeard from the back in the 1910's.
Radnor School District Archives

The earliest known drawing by David Knickerbacher Boyd of the Radnor Grammar School from 1897.
Radnor Historical Society Collection

Boyd's revision of the Radnor Grammar School design, which was built to a slightly different appearance.
Radnor Historical Society Collection

The completed Wayne Grammar School, shortly after construction. This and the following picture came from an architectural journal from around 1901.
Architectural Journal; Carnegie Mellon University Library

The back view of the newly completed Grammar School. The building is now the Radnor Administration Building.
Architectural Journal; Carnegie Mellon University Library

Radnor High School #2
Windemere Ave., Wayne
1909 - 1985

The second building to house the Radnor High School was constructed in 1909 on Windemere Ave, in between the Grammar School and Radnor Presbyterian Church, which had been built a year earlier. The school answered the demands of an increasingly cramped and outdated school two doors down. A gymnasium was constructed at the same time to the north, which connected to the new High School. The school was first open to public inpection on December 18, 1909 from 2-5 PM and from 7:30-9:30 PM. The School remained High School until 1923, when a new structure replaced the original one. The Windemere Ave. school was then used for other grades, until its demolition in 1985.

Radnor High School #3 (Radnor Middle School)
South Wayne Ave., Wayne
1923 - ; revisions 1927,

In 1923 the need for a larger school became greater. The original 1889 School building was torn down and a brick building was built. Additions were completed as early as October, 1926, and more were to follow shortly. It originally housed both the Junior and Senior High Schools; the Junior on the left side, the Senior on the right. It is said that whoever crossed into the other side got in much trouble! The need for a new school arose again in the 1950s. In 1958 the senior High School students were moved into a new facility closer to Villanova. The old high school became specifically the Junior High School, or Middle School.

A drawing of the High School with its 1926 addition.
From "Radnor High School: A Century of Spirit"

This photo shows the back of the school before it was added onto.
Radnor School District Archives

The front of the newly constructed Radnor High School.
Click on the image for a larger version
Radnor School District Archives

A detail of the School's doorway.
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Radnor School District Archives

Radnor High School #4
King of Prussia Rd., Lancaster Ave. and Radnor-Chester Rd., Radnor
1958 - ; revisions 1964, 1965, 1971, 1996-99

The land for the new school used to be a farm and there was much space for athletic fields, a football field and a spread out school. The cornerstone of the new, modern High School was laid on November 13, 1958. This building undergone numerous additions and renovations, the first being a new wing in 1964, then a new library, named for Mary Carter, a year later. In 1966, students decided to plant marijuana in the pit of the year-old library. In 1971 the "B-wing" was completed, as well as the pool. The most substantial renovations took place from 1996-1999. This gave the school several new areas, a new facade and a thoroughly renovated interior. When finished, there was hardly a place in the school which had not been meticulously gone over and modernized.

Promotional material featuring the new High School at Kind of Prussia Rd.
From "Radnor High School: A Century of Spirit"

The programs of the 1927 and 1933 Radnor - Lower Merion football games.
Click on the left image to see a larger version

Students take a break from school to get some ice cream.
From "Radnor High School: A Century of Spirit"

Radnor School Bus #15 making it's rounds in the 1960s or 70s.
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Radnor School District Archives