1945-1949

Before Woodlin, the land was woods and farms. There had been the Riley farm and the Mays house. Residents who remember Depression-era times recall that hoboes often stayed in the woods, leaving ashes from their fires. They would hop off the train to walk through the neighborhood, offering to do yard work in exchange for a bit of lunch. In 1945, Woodlin opened its doors with 95 students in four classrooms, one in each kindergarten through third grade, three teachers and Marvel Hess, the principal and teacher of the third grade. It was a neighborhood school…everyone walked. Students gave Woodlin its name changing it from the North Woodside School.

The U-shaped building was part of what is now the lower building, behind the all-purpose room and kitchen. Children had to bring their lunch or they walked home for lunch, but milk was delivered daily. Students and teachers remember well the 1946-48 construction of the center building, with its distinctive columns. It was a pleasure for them to enter after being housed with 50 second graders at nearby Grace Episcopal Church. They were supposed to be there for a couple of weeks but stayed three months. And they were welcomed until the children got in trouble for playing on the gravestones.

Some highlights of this decade were:

• Halloween parades through the neighborhood.
• Inter-scholastic patrol softball teams.
• Annual teas for teachers hosted by the Walter Reed community.
• Numerous field trips: the incinerator, hayrides, the Smithsonian, concerts at Constitution Hall, Martin's Dairy, and Isaac Walton League.

1945-1949  |  1950-1959  |  1960-1969  |  1970-1979 | 1980-1989  |  1990-1999  |  2000-2009  |  2010-Present