Third Clarkson school reunion set for September 9

The Clarkson School is a rare example of a two room, two story Greek Revival Academy in New York.

Third Clarkson school reunion set for September 9

The third Clarkson School Reunion will be held at the Clarkson Community Church and Schoolhouse on Sunday, September 9, from 2 to 4:30 p.m.

Clarkson was an early leader in education. The Clarkson Academy was established as early as 1835. Lewis Swift, one of its first graduates, was a life-long learner who transformed a vocation, star gazing, into his vocation, astronomy. He is credited with the discovery of 11 comets and over two-hundred nebulae. He became the director of the Warner Observatory in Rochester and the Lowe Observatory in California.

The Clarkson Academy offered an enriched curriculum which included courses such as rhetoric, philosophy, chemistry, geology, physiology, astronomy, botany, mathematics and even Greek and Latin languages. This all before there were public high schools in most of New York state and the average student only attended elementary school before returning to the farm. Some of the trustees that provided the foresight to rebuild the Academy in 1853 when it burned included Abel Baldwin, Simeon Jewett, Henry Seldon and Lemuel Haskall.

Later, the Academy became a public elementary school and then part of the Brockport Central School District in 1927. As an elementary school, grades 1-6 were taught. Throughout the school's history students have attended the Clarkson Academy and schoolhouse for over 100 years from 1853-1956.

The program for the third reunion will include a reception, a review of phases I, II, and III of the school restoration as well as presentation by Doris Schmidt about rural schooling in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Schmidt is a retired Brockport Central teacher. The event will be capped off with a tour of the Clarkson School to view the restoration progress.

The Clarkson Historical Society has been in the process of restoring the school since 2003 and members envision it becoming a community center once again. Some of its uses will include school class visits, historical society meetings, public presentations, a repository for local historical artifacts and an educational leadership center for life-long learning.

The Reunion is not just for Clarkson School alumni but for all those with a desire to become connected to the community through the life-long learning experiences. Residents from all communities are invited. The schoolhouse is located at 8339 Ridge Road West, Brockport.