The history of Riverside’s A.F. Ames Elementary School is as colorful as it is long.
Case in point: One hundred years ago, in early 1924, at the height of the Roaring 20s, Alfred F. Ames was superintendent of Riverside Public Schools, which is now Riverside School District 96.
He was working in his office at Central Elementary School that day when a delivery man darkened his doorway.
“I’ve got a truckload of bricks and an order to deliver them to the A.F. Ames School, and I don’t know where it is,” the man said, adding, “Funny, they didn’t put the address on the delivery slip.”
And that’s how Ames learned that the new school, still vibrant at 86 Southcote Road with 470 students, was to be named after him.
It’s a great story, researched by local historian Jim Petrzilka, and presented at the school’s 100th anniversary celebration Nov. 3, which drew more than 150 people and included a time capsule that will be given to Riverside for its 150th anniversary next year.
Ah, memories, pressed between the pages of our minds: That includes Kristin White, who graduated from the school in the late 1970s.
“I remember kickball a lot,” she said. “I don’t recall why I remember that, but we’d play kickball in the gym and on the playground. I also remember SRA [testing], doing science experiments, doing my math facts.
“My last year in elementary school, my friends and I were into Grease.”
There’s more. At Ames, everybody knew everybody, she said, and “everyone’s mom was your mom. We were allowed to go home for lunch if we lived close.”
Her experience at Ames Elementary, which started when she arrived for fourth grade, was an impetus for her to go into education herself. She is now principal at Walled Lake Western High School in Michigan, about a half hour from Ann Arbor.
She said her school is brand new, with a state-of-the-art building and the all the modern amenities – just like Ames Elementary had in 1924. And that’s great, but it’s missing something.
Maybe that’s the charm only time can foster.
“It had a homey feel,” White said. “We have these great facilities and technology, but it doesn’t feel like home.”
Her contemporary, Amy Hill, said students like her were prepared in all subjects for junior high. She recalled it a “strict, no-nonsense school,” with one class per grade, so she had the same classmates for all of her years there. Guess what happened because of that?
“The best thing that came out of Ames was I have lifelong friends,” said Hill, who recalls a lot from those days, from the Fun Fairs to the red capes that she wore for the Christmas program. “They are still my dear, lifelong friends.”
Ames Elementary evolved with additions in 1968 and in 2019, which included a library in the back of the school, the multipurpose room and the lunch room. But that’s not all, current principal Todd Gierman said.
“When I reflect on my last 12 years as the principal of Ames Elementary School, I think about the growth we have made as a learning community in the area of social emotional learning and supporting the whole child,” Gierman said.
“It also makes me very happy that our Early Learner students in District 96 have found a permanent home with the Early Learner addition we added to our building,” he added. “We also added a huge library, classrooms and open learning spaces. We continue to evolve at Ames to accommodate the needs of our students and families.”
Likewise for Parent Teacher Association president Kelly Rehmer, who has two daughters attending the school, it’s the now that is just as important as the past.
“I think that the children at Ames are well prepared to go into Hauser [Junior High],” Rehmer said, “because it is one of the larger schools in the district. They do a good job of getting fifth graders well versed. They transfer students for classes.”
