Bay Haven Plans 90th Anniversary Celebration

From Sarasota County Schools:

SARASOTA, FL – The students, staff and families of Bay Haven School of Basics Plus are planning a week-long birthday party from September 26-October 1. The celebration will include special lessons, activities and events every day to involve the school family and the surrounding community in commemorating the school’s opening day in 1926, tracing the school’s history to 2016 and burying a time capsule to be opened at the 100th anniversary party in 2026.

When the doors opened at Bay Haven School, President Warren G. Harding had recently installed the first radio in the White House, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald were aspiring young novelists, the Empire State Building was under construction, Little Orphan Annie made her debut in the comics, yo-yos were catching on as a new toy; raccoon coats were the height of fashion, and the first Mickey Mouse cartoon was the most popular movie of the day.

A lot has changed in the 90 years since, but Bay Haven – now known as Bay Haven School of Basics Plus – is still going strong as an innovative educational facility and an integral part of Sarasota’s community life.

In the early 1920s Sarasota was in the midst of a real estate boom. New schools were needed to accommodate the rapidly growing population.

Bay Haven and Southside elementary schools were built from identical plans in the Mediterranean Revival style by M. Leo Elliott, an architect from New York with offices in Sarasota, Tampa and St. Petersburg. The schools were designed to accommodate 600 students each and cost $72,000 apiece to build.

The schools’ locations north and south of the city center were recommended by nationally renowned city planner John Nolen, who planned the city of Cambridge, Mass. Some city leaders were skeptical about building new schools so far from downtown.

Mrs. Mason H. Rose was the first principal of Bay Haven. The school received strong support from parents from the first year it opened.

The Great Depression closed Sarasota's public schools for lack of funds in February 1933. The Bay Haven PTA kept the doors open by charging tuition to families who could afford to pay and sponsoring fundraisers for those who could not.

Parents worked in the kitchen and provided vegetables, canned fruits and milk for free lunches for needy students. In 1934 the Florida PTA convention honored the Bay Haven PTA for its welfare work and membership efforts.

In 1937, Bay Haven established the first in-house elementary school library in Sarasota County. In 1962, Bay Haven became the first Sarasota County elementary school to be integrated, enrolling 29 African-American students. Bay Haven became the site of the first kindergarten in a Sarasota County public school in 1964. The school building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

In 1983, Bay Haven was designated a magnet school that students from any neighborhood north of Gulf Gate could attend. The name was changed to the School of New Basics to reflect a back-to-basics curriculum created in response to a rising national concern about school quality and the need to improve student’s fundamental academic skills.

The key features of the curriculum were Spanish language instruction, more computers, smaller classes and increased parent involvement. For their children attend the new school, parents and guardians were required to sign contracts that committed them to enforce academic and behavioral standards, to attend PTA meetings and to volunteer time at the school.

In 1990, Bay Haven received the National Elementary School Recognition Program Award.

Today the Bay Haven School of Basics Plus retains its popularity, its tradition of parent involvement and its high academic standards.

To mark the 90th anniversary milestone, the students, staff and community are planning a full week of celebrations from Sept. 26-Oct. 1. Students and staff will be sharing fun facts about the 1920s in classes and during announcements every day; conducting social studies activities related to the Roaring 20s; and wearing mustaches, headbands and fashions popular at the time.

Wednesday, September 28, will be a Spirit Day when students will plant a tree and bury a time capsule to be opened in 2026.

On Friday, September 30, birthday cake will be served during lunch and students will perform historical sketches and songs.

On Saturday, October 1, the community will be invited to a special celebration that will include an Anniversary Day proclamation, hallway exhibits and an antique car show.

Bay Haven Principal Chad Ericson said he is excited that the celebration will involve so many students interacting with one another and with a variety of alumni. He said bringing the history of the school to life will help students appreciate the strong academic tradition of their school and how it was involved in the vast social and economic changes the city of Sarasota has experienced in the nine decades since the school opened.

Image via Sarasota County Schools.