BAY HEAD — For over 130 years, Bay Head School has been through the best and the worst of times. From weathering massive storms such as Superstorm Sandy in 2012 to the most recent challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, the historic school has stood the test of time.
As Bay Head prepares to restore its elementary school building through a $2.9 million project, the students and staff who spend their days there look forward to much-needed improvements. What they never want to change, however, is the intimate size of the school and its character, the things that make residents joke about how “no one leaves Bay Head.”
Even after significant flooding and damage by Superstorm Sandy, which closed the school for several weeks and caused the students to migrate to the halls of Antrim in Point Beach, the heart and soul of Bay Head School persevered.
Principal Frank Camardo is the current captain of the ship that is Bay Head School, and is in his 10th year at the school. He came from another district in Burlington County as an assistant principal at Riverside Elementary School, and prior to that he was a middle school language arts teacher in Marlton.
“Other than (Bay Head School) being much smaller, there is more community involvement, and more of a family feel from the school. Everybody comes together to do what is right for the kids. We can do a lot more here as far as trips and special events than other districts,” said the principal.
Bay Head School is rooted in tradition, but tries to push the envelope forward when it comes to innovation and technology. Principal Camardo said, “The traditions have stuck there, but obviously, class sizes have gotten larger. We have added programs, we have really enhanced the technology, the security of the school, even in my time…the facilities have changed drastically.”
He credits much of the school’s positive and welcoming feel to its community, stakeholders, board of education, teachers and parents.
“Whatever goes on in the school, everyone wants to be involved and support what we are doing in the school. They want their kids to get the best education, get those extras; and that can’t happen with just one person or a couple of people,” said the principal. “It is this community and our staff that really makes the school thrive.”
When asked to sum up Bay Head School, he described the school as a “positive learning institution.”
In 1888, according to the Bay Head Council minutes on Feb. 11, the first mention of a school coming to the borough appeared, when an individual identified as Dr. D.H. Mount went to the County Superintendent in Toms River to request that certain portions of the Bay Head neighborhood become its own school district.
A mere seven days later, on Feb. 18, 1888, a new school district was named, covering the Bay Head and Lovelandtown areas.
Three months after that, a contract between the Bayhead Land Company and the Trustees of School District 51 agreed to the purchase of a plot of land, currently where the preschool stands, to construct the first school in Bay Head. The land was purchased for only $20 on a lot measuring 75 by 159 feet.
The first school board meeting was held on March 20, 1900 at what was then Bay Head Borough Hall, where Mrs. J.M. McCredy was hired as a teacher for the one-room schoolhouse, which educated students in grades one through eight.
The school initially began as a one-classroom building, but as the years went on, the student population increased. In 1907, middle school students, grades sixth through eighth, had to be sent to Point Pleasant Beach School.
On Feb. 23, 1911, it was recommended by the board of education that a vote be taken on building an addition to the schoolhouse. By July, the school board was making plans for a 22- by 30-foot addition that conformed to then state board of education requirements. The original building with the addition continued to serve as the Bay Head School until 1931.
With the growing student population, the need for a bigger school was becoming more and more apparent, so the new school was built on the property it still sits on today.
Over the years, several major additions have been added to the school, such as a new gymnasium, a new wing to the school and various field improvements.
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