Grade School Pictures: A Walk Down Memory Lane

I love how looking at old photos can spark little memories. But then I wonder why those particular memories have stuck with me after many decades when others have seemed to fade away into nothingness. Maybe they are just buried deeper and might reveal themselves in the future. 

Recently I moved boxes of old family photos that we brought back after cleaning out my mom’s house. My plan is to scan and upload them for family members to view, enjoy and download. (Hmm, wonder when I’m going to get started on that task?)

Tucked into those boxes of snapshots and portraits, I discovered some of my school pictures from grade school, junior high, and high school. As I gazed at each one, especially the ones from grade school, I could recall the different classrooms, my teachers, and other details from those years. Admittedly, many details are still fuzzy, but I was intrigued and a bit surprised about which memories were popping up just by looking at these school pictures.

The Magic of School Pictures 

You probably remember picture days at school. Maybe you cared about selecting the right outfit – although only the shirt, sweater or top part of the dress would typically show in the photo. When I was older, I also cared about how I would wear my hair (once I had longer hair that could by styled instead of just combed a bit – but more on that later).

I was also nervous that I would forget to bring the photo order form and check from my mom with me to school and not be able to get my picture taken. That never happened to me, but it was still a fear. Another worry was whether I would look dorky in my pictures – maybe a weird smile or half-closed eyes. I had (and still have) a propensity to blink just as photos are taken. Perhaps the photographers took two photos if they suspected a student closed his or her eyes, but I never suffered the embarrassment of a goofy school picture.

Even more exciting than picture day was the one when our school pictures arrived and other teachers distributed them in class. I couldn’t wait to peek through the clear window in the envelope to see how my picture turned out. I think I was pleased enough because I certainly wouldn’t forget viewing a terrible school picture.

After taking the school pictures home to show my parents, I couldn’t wait to cut apart the small thumbnail prints and take them to school the next day to trade with my friends. Mom also saved some of the pictures to send to grandparents and slipped the largest picture into the cardboard frame provided to display in the living room. I’m thankful to my mom for saving these school pictures for me to discover so many years later. 

Let me share my memories and corresponding school pictures from four of my grade school years.

Kindergarten (1967-68)

School: Nichols Elementary School in Monona, Wisconsin

Teacher: Mrs. Nagy

This school picture is my favorite because I think my smile is so genuine and sweet. I wore a dress that my Grandma Dora Stewart sewed for me. I was also allowed to wear a small turtle pin on the dress, although it’s hard to see on the busy printed fabric and the decorative buttons.

I attended half-day kindergarten in the mornings and remember riding the school bus. I usually sat with a boy who lived in my neighborhood. Although I don’t recall his name, he was my first crush on a boy; there would be several other crushes throughout my school days.

My memories of what we learned in kindergarten are non-existent. The two strongest memories I have from kindergarten are nap time and contracting chicken pox. I doubt I wanted to take naps, but I definitely recall spreading out a braided rag rug that I brought from home on the classroom floor. I wonder if I found it uncomfortable to lie down on that linoleum tile floor. Probably not or else that feeling would have stuck with me. As for chicken pox, my report shows I was absent 4 days during the first half of the year and 3 days in the second half. I’m sure some of those days were because of the itchy blisters on my skin. My mom wasn’t thrilled that I inadvertently brought the virus home and exposed my younger brother to it.

Did you attend kindergarten in the morning, afternoon or all day?

First Grade (1968-69)

School: Black Earth Elementary School in Black Earth, Wisconsin

Teacher: Mrs. Olson

Before I started first grade, my family moved to the small town of Black Earth because my parents started working for a company located in Mazomanie, the next small town heading west (and where my mom grew up and my maternal grandparents lived). So, I started my first year of full school days at a new school. The lower elementary classrooms were in the newer wing of an older brick school building. I recall that Mrs. Olson’s classroom was the second room on the left side of the hallway as you entered that wing. I remember walking the three blocks to school, probably with the children of the neighbor lady in whose house we stayed before and after school.

As for my first-grade school picture, I don’t recall a lot of details. I know I’ve always liked sailor-style dresses – perhaps that style preference stems from this blue dress. Also, I’m still sporting the short “pixie” haircut, which remained my coiffure for second grade as well. (Yes, that’s foreshadowing for third grade.)

No doubt we first graders learned a multitude of things that year, but my predominant memories of those days are learning to read using the Dick and Jane books (I loved reading right away! That pastime will pop up again later.) and learning how to tell time on a clock using small cardboard clockfaces with moveable hands.

The other memory I attribute to first grade (and the other two years I attended school there) is having a milk break during the day. My assumption has always been that we had milk breaks because we lived in a dairy state. Wisconsin has had programs to provide or partially subsidize a half-pint of milk (produced in the state, of course) to students from pre-kindergarten through fifth or sixth grade. When I was a student, we were offered white milk each day except for the option of choosing chocolate milk on Fridays. I always chose chocolate milk! Sometimes we had a small snack during milk breaks or a classmate celebrating his or her birthday brought treats that day.

What do you remember learning in first grade? Did you have milk breaks?

Third Grade (1970-71)

School: Black Earth Elementary School in Black Earth, Wisconsin

Teacher: Miss Rose

By third grade, my classroom (now on the right side of the hallway) was all the way at the end of the new wing. We had a new teacher at the school named Miss Rose. She was young and pretty, and I loved being in her class.

As you can see from my third-grade school picture, my hairstyle has finally changed. I convinced my mom that I was old enough to take care of longer hair by myself, so she agreed I could grow out the pixie cut. But having longer hair didn’t change the fact that it was super straight, but we somehow managed to coax it into holding a little curl – probably by me sleeping overnight on large prickly hair curlers. (What we do for fashion and style!) Still, I loved feeling more grown up with longer hair. It was the 1970s, after all, when most girls wore their hair long and straight.

Memory highlights of this school year are learning to (properly) use a dictionary and what comprised the solar system, which I’ve been fascinated with ever since. I was still an avid reader and looked forward to visiting the school library to check out books. Many of the girls in my class chose Nancy Drew mysteries, but I enjoyed reading about pioneers (like the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder), families (such as All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor), fantasy (like The Borrowers by Mary Norton), and interesting girls (such as Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren).

Perhaps my most frequent remembrance of third grade is Miss Rose reading to our class after lunch. As the cold weather set in, she chose A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It was my first time hearing that story, and it made quite an impression on me. Wintertime that year was also fun because my parents let me bring my ice skates to school, so I could skate during after-lunch recess on the town rink behind the school.

At the end of that year, my family was again planning to move during the summer months. I would be living two states away in Missouri, so it was unlikely I would see many of my classmates and friends again – although I did exchange a few letters with good friends Tina and Tory. The mother of one of my classmates sewed an autograph pillow decorated like an owl, and everyone signed their names as a remembrance.

What were you interested in or reading about as a third grader?

Fourth Grade (1971-72)

School: Southeast Park Elementary School in Moberly, Missouri

Teacher: Mrs. Spellman

Once again, I was starting another year at a new school, which was about a six-block walk or bike ride from our house. My classroom was on the top floor of a three-story brick building – the first classroom (of four) on the right at the top of the stairs.

My school picture that year includes a physical reminder of an incident that occurred at the end of third grade when I collided with a fifth-grade girl when I was running around the corner of the school building. That encounter left me with a huge swollen and painful black eye. Luckily, I didn’t suffer any permanent damage to my vision, but the bruising was still faintly visible under my left eye. You can also see that I had continued to grow my hair longer, and I recall buying that school dress from the JC Penney department store in downtown Moberly.

That year we learned how to write in cursive, but that’s all I recall about the academics. My parents usually paid for hot lunches (it was a treat to bring a lunch from home), and I remember that we used the stage in the gymnasium as the cafeteria space. The lunchroom monitor, a nice woman named Mrs. Spicer, would excuse us from our tables to go to recess based on how many food items were left on our trays. I always hated the days when stewed tomatoes were served because it meant waiting longer before I could go outside to the playground to play kick ball or climb on the jungle gym.

My brother and I were old enough by then to be “latchkey kids” at home after school, since our parents worked until 5 pm. There weren’t a lot of other children in the new subdivision neighborhood yet, so we usually watched TV, read books, annoyed each other or played board games together, and did any chores that Mom left for us on a note on the table.

When did you learn to write in cursive? How did you spend your time after school?

Take Time to Remember 

With or without your school pictures as memory prompts, it’s fun to take time to remember your time spent in the classroom. Perhaps some memories aren’t as fond as others, but those events are part of what makes each of us who we are today.

If you have a favorite school picture and/or memory, please share it below in the comments.

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