If I remember correctly, the age cut off date for starting first grade was at the beginning of September. But if you were going to turn six between September and the end of the year, you could take a readiness test to qualify for starting school before you turned six. I took the test and passed. So in September of 1952, I started first grade at Charles A. Stewart Elementary.
Stewart Elementary School, Arlington, Virginia |
I walked to school every day, usually with my sister, Linda, who was in the fourth grade when I started school. It seemed like a very long walk when I was young. But on a trip back east several years ago, I drove the distance in a car. It was less than a quarter of a mile...not very far at all.
It wasn't appropriate for girls to wear slacks or pants to school back then. I wore a dress or skirt every day. We played recess games, hung upside down from the monkey bars, and climbed the jungle gym all while wearing skirts. Sometimes, we'd wear shorts underneath our dresses, but not very often. I'm sure that we girls were completely unfazed by having our underwear show while upside down on the monkey bars. Oh, my!
It's like you're writing my life. I feel silly with a "Me, too!" comment every time, but you write like Harper Lee, describing life in Maycomb.
ReplyDeleteHarper Lee? Does this mean that I'm suppose to write the next great American novel? That's your job.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness...
ReplyDeleteYou are Linda's sister.
I went to school with Linda from first grade to 12th.
Tiny world.
John