CONCORD HIGH SCHOOL, Staten Island

by Kevin Walsh

I was sniffing around Park Hill in Staten Island a few years ago when I came upon this magnificent high school building, constructed in 1894, at Steuben Street and Rhine Avenue. It anchors the rather obscure Concord neighborhood, which since 1964 has been defined by the Staten Island Expressway, Richmond Road, West Fingerboard Road and the Staten Island Railway.

Glancing at the street signs will reveal the names of German rivers and other Germanic names: Steuben, Oder, Neckar, Rhine, Elbe and more; Concord had a predominantly German population after its 19th-Century founding. Emerson Hill is nearby: Judge William Emerson, brother of Transcendentalist author and philosopher Ralph Waldo, lived on it, and R.W. and mutual friend Henry David Thoreau were frequenters of the region.

This is just a taster for what I hope will be a more extensive feature of this pleasant yet obscure neighborhood later on.

5/27/13

24 comments

Lisa May 27, 2013 - 9:25 am

Is it still in use as a school?

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Kevin Walsh May 28, 2013 - 8:44 am

Yes.

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John May 27, 2013 - 11:29 am

I think that this was originally a public grammar school. The old schools built around the time of the mistake of ’98 usually had a bell or clock tower.

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Kevin Walsh May 28, 2013 - 8:44 am

It had been PS 12

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Renee Neumann May 27, 2013 - 12:33 pm

Lovely windows! Imagine all the natural light they let into the classrooms in the days before electric lighting. Not to mention to look out of during a boring lesson. I wouldn’t have minded going to school there. (I attended nearby St. Joseph Hill Academy in Arrochar for 12 years–where I also had a great view from the playground on the hill, watching the Verrazzano Bridge being built.)

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michael banks August 10, 2014 - 11:07 am

we had to use those poles with hooks to open the windows in the late 60s early 70s, clapped erasers every afternoon was a great school.

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Larry Gertner May 29, 2013 - 4:48 pm

I carry mail on the other side of the Expressway from the school, but the street names carry over.
Somehow in the midst of all this Germanicness, Britton Avenue managed to sneak in.

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Crystal Clair June 6, 2013 - 10:33 am

Sure Concord High School (the name of the school) looks nice but it’s where students end up when they can’t make it in other schools. And Concord north of the expressway isn’t a very safe neighborhood. Sad, really.

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michael banks August 10, 2014 - 11:11 am

it use to be a great grade school fine neighborhood then section 8 came in slid downhill fast after that.

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Anthony Varrecchia July 18, 2013 - 5:19 am

I was born and raised on Rhine avenue. Attended P.S. 12 from ’68 – ’74. Times have changed and so has the neighborhood… and not in a good way.

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Shannon July 21, 2014 - 3:40 pm

Really?? My family (and I for a little while) grew up there! The gamboa’s ring a bell???

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michael banks August 10, 2014 - 11:09 am

i was in mrs fitzpatricks class 4th grade 1969 mr litz 5th grade 1970 henry murpheys class 1971 anyone else?

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Cindi Scarpelli Scheuerman October 14, 2014 - 9:18 pm

My grandfather, father and I all went to PS 12 and we ALL had Mrs. Fitzpatrick. 🙂

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rick h November 14, 2014 - 2:32 pm

I had Mrs. Asarro, 2nd grade, Mrs. Schecter, 3rd grade, Miss Fitzpatrick, 4th grade, Mrs. Stillwell 5th grade, and Mrs. Danielson 6th grade (59-63). Mr Yaccarino was the Janitor and Miss Keegan was the principal. Headed off to JHS 49 then Curtis after that.

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Cindi Scarpelli January 25, 2015 - 1:03 am

I was at PS 12 close to those dates. Cannot remember my first grade teacher but had Asarro in 2nd, Schecter in 3rd and Fitzpatrick in 4th and Mr. Murphy in 6th. We moved during my 5th grade year. I think you may have been a year or two ahead of me. I went to 49 and graduated in 1969 from there. Yep, played in Fox Hills and ice skated at Eips Pond. Louisa Vezza, Peter Sentflaben, James Martin, Robert DiVencenzi (SP?) were some of my classmates.

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Cindy Stamer Basurco October 14, 2017 - 12:50 pm

Does anyone remember Stamer

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rick h November 17, 2014 - 3:39 pm

I was at PS 12 from 59-63 (2nd – 6th grade). I had Mrs. Asarro in 2nd, Mrs. Schecter in 3rd, Miss Fitzpatrick in 4th, Mrs. Stillwell in 5th and Mrs. Danielson in 6th. Mrs. Keegan was the Principle and Mr. Yacarrino was the janitor. Some of my classmates were Joey Dellavalle, Jimmy Joyce, George Vallebuona, Ricky Lawson, Elise Maier, Anne Marie Saladis, Diane Bisci, On to JHS 49 and Curtis after that. Used to play in Fox Hills and ice skate at Eips Pond.

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Ricky Lawson August 15, 2019 - 3:13 pm

Is this Ricky hardy?

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Lori B February 5, 2015 - 1:46 pm

Back in the 50’s I remember Mrs.Sandberg as my 1st Grade teacher and a Mrs.Byer as the Principal.

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carol cassetti May 24, 2015 - 10:26 pm

I went to Kindergarten there my whole family attended that school my Father and his sibling and my sisters. It was PS 12. I went there in 1964. It still looks very much the same from the outside.

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Linda Synan Strobel June 21, 2015 - 9:31 am

Had Mr. Henry Murphy in 6th grade. We all went there except for my younger brother Dean. The schoolyard was the place to be in the summertime.

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Anonymous October 19, 2017 - 5:16 pm

Wow P.S. 12. Started kindergarten there in 62. I remember Mrs schecter 3 rd. Fitzpatrick 4th. Mrs mazzucca 5 th and Mr Murphy 6 th. Enjoyed the summer school program and all the great neibor hood friends .

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Jean H April 22, 2019 - 8:52 pm

Graduated from PS 12 in 1965 then went to Curtis. Lived on Britton Ave and went home for lunch every day. I remember dancing around the May pole with streamers. Had Mrs Fitzpatrick, Mrs Pantelleria. Remember all the bomb scares we used to have. It was at that time a lovely neighborhood school. Haven’t lived there now in decades but it’s great to see this photo. I also remeber playing at Fox Hills and ice skating on Eips Pond. Had some great times on the ice.

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linda busch September 25, 2019 - 1:57 pm

I went to PS 12 in the 1940’s
anyone else ?

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