Celebration set for 100th anniversary of historic Venetia School
For more than six decades after the Venetia School opened its doors in 1926, it served generations of children in the Peters Township School District.
Today, the former elementary school, now called the Venetia Community Center, still serves people in the community: It is a gathering place for several non-profit organizations and a meeting space community groups.
The Venetia Heritage Society will host a centennial celebration this weekend honoring the 100th anniversary of the school.
“The building encompasses 100 years of community history,” said Bryan Seip, vice president of the Venetia Heritage Society. “Our goal was to preserve the building while providing a place where people continue to get together, to learn and make connections.”
The celebration will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the community center and will include food, entertainment, a display of cars from each decade the school was open, a model railroad train display, a Pittsburgh cookie table fundraiser, raffle baskets and building tours.
The non-profit Venetia Heritage Society purchased the school from the Peters Township School District in 1997, about four years after the school was closed. It has been the mission of a group of dedicated volunteers – some who are former students and teachers at Venetia School – to keep the building open for people to use and to visit.
Current occupants of the community center include the Washington County Area Agency on Aging, the DARE Model Railroad Club, multiple Girl Scout troops and the Montour Railroad Historical Society. The heritage society also operates a self-service food pantry in the back of the building stocked with non-perishable food items for community members facing food insecurity.
“A lot of people drive by and think it’s an abandoned building. They do not know it is in use six days a week, between the train club and several Girl Scout troops. It’s used a good bit by the community. It’s actually a busy little building,” said Dan Mitchell, who joined the executive board around 2018, when his son was a member of the Peters Township Rowing Club, which once used one of the rooms to set up rowing machines for rowers to practice during the winter.
Toni Sulkowksi, an executive board member of the VHS, attended Venetia School in the fifth grade, and later taught third grade at the school for a year and eventually served as principal.
“I have a passion for education – I was in it for 35 years – and I love history, especially local history. The school is near and dear to many people’s hearts, especially for those who went there over the years,” Sulkowski said. “I just love the fact that here’s this old building, still standing in Peters Township, and still intact enough that it’s still servicing people in a variety of ways. That is what drew me to it.”
Peters Township’s first school opened in the 1800s in a log cabin farm home, and two other schools that were established on farms operated sporadically.
In 1835, free public education was introduced to the farmers of Peters Township, resulting in the establishment of four one-room schoolhouses. The township’s population grew and more schools were added, and by 1917, the township had swelled to include 10 one-room schools and a high school that was built in 1902. In 1926, Venetia School opened as Peters Township Graded School Number One, the township’s first multi-classroom school serving students in grades one through eight.
Seip noted that many immigrants settled in Peters Township to work on farms and in Western Pennsylvania coal mines, and that some early Venetia School students were the first in their families to learn English.
“The kids would come home and share what they learned, and they taught the parents, who spoke Italian, Lithuanian, or other languages, how to speak English,” Seip said.
Sulkowski served as the last principal at both Venetia and Elm Grove schools.
“We closed those two schools in the spring of 1993 and opened McMurray Elementary School in the fall of 1993, Sulkowski said, noting she also was principal at McMurray and Bower Hill elementary schools when they opened. “I was so fortunate in my career. Who can say they closed two schools and opened two schools?”
One original item from Venetia School will be on display: the school bell, which was removed when the school closed and spent more than three decades in storage. In May, the bell was transported by members of the Peters Township School District maintenance crew to the Venetia Community Center, where it will remain.
Seip said the Venetia Heritage Society depends on fundraisers, grants, and the contributions of members and donors to renovate, maintain and keep the building in use. The funds have covered several projects, including kitchen renovation and updates, brick pointing on the building, parking lot paving.
“We have a lot of like-minded people who want to preserve the history of the school, and that’s the reason we’ve been successful,” Mitchell said. “Nobody’s willing to give up.”
Sulkowski said it takes “a tremendous amount of work and money to fix up an old building like that.”
“We’re grateful for the donations and grants we’ve gotten that have helped us give it a new life, and we’re exploring more grants and seeking funding to make sure that all of the necessary repairs and upkeep get taken care of. The number of non-profits who use (the center) has grown, and we are happy about that because we think the school is still fulfilling the mission of education through the groups that use it,” she said.
At least a dozen former Venetia School teachers and staff members are expected to appear at this weekend’s celebration, where they will be recognized.
“So many people love the school and have so many good memories. It was so small, everyone got along, the parents really supported the teachers and staff. It was so nice,” Sulkowski said.