On August 30, 2018 the ribbon was cut on the new Gulph Elementary School. The new school was built on the grounds of the original Gulph Elementary School.
In 1953, Gulph Elementary School was the first of the post-war schools built in Upper Merion. It had twenty-one rooms and housed 500 grade school pupils. The school was situated behind the Junior-Senior High (aka Gulph Road School) off of Henderson Road complete with a fallout shelter in the basement. The school mascot was the Gulph Roadrunner.
The school was converted to a senior high in 1958 due to overcrowding at the Junior-Senior High, and then converted back to an elementary school upon the opening of the new senior high on Crossfield Road. It continued as an elementary school until closure in 1982 due to falling enrollment.
After 1982, it served in many roles – central receiving for the district, the township’s senior center, a day care, and an alternative school for the district.
In 2008, due to overcrowding in the elementary schools, it became the consolidated home of the district’s extended day program.
With enrollment on the rise again, it was demolished in 2016 to make way for the new Gulph Elementary School. On September 4, 2018 students who previously previously attended Bridgeport Elementary School, Caley Elementary School, Candlebrook Elementary School, and Roberts Elementary School will start their school year in a brand new school.
You can read more about area schools on the “Timeline of Upper Merion and Bridgeport Public Schools 1930 to 2020.” http://www.kophistory.org/schoolTimeline.html
Photo credit: Michael Morrison
Photo credit: Michael Morrison
Photo credit: David Montalvo
Photo credit: Pioneer Yearbook 1960
Photo credit: Microsoft Bing screen shot reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Mike Napolitan.