On January 20, 1926, the new Olyphant Junior High School opened for seventh and eighth grade students. It was located on Lincoln Street across from the high school. There were three classrooms per story for a total of nine classrooms. It was designed by John Howley. The general contractor was Boland Brothers of Carbondale. It cost $180,000.
There were eight teachers assigned to the school: Catherine Murphy, Mary Rogan, Mary Gavin, Sarah Ruddy, Nellie Lenahan, Gertrude Hoban, Marie Beatty, and Catherine Walsh.
Around 1938, an addition was built that extended the structure to Susquehanna Avenue as it stands today. This addition included two gymnasiums and increased the number of classrooms to a little over twenty. The school was for students of Olyphant in grades seven through nine.
When the population of Olyphant began to decline, there were many vacant classrooms in the school. In the mid-1940s, St. Patrick’s Church rented the third floor to use for their parochial school.
In September of 1969, the school became Mid-Valley Senior High School for students in tenth through twelfth grades from Olyphant, Throop, and Dickson City.
On February 10, 1977, the Olyphant Elementary School was condemned by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. On March 4, 1977, the Dickson City Elementary School was also condemned. The displaced elementary school students attended classes in the junior high school in Dickson City. Senior high school students attended classes in this building during the morning session, and junior high school students attended classes during the afternoon session.
In September of 1978, students in grades nine through twelve began to attend classes on full day sessions in the senior high school, while seventh and eight grade students attended classes in the former St. Patrick’s school on Delaware Avenue. There were additional classrooms in the basement of St. Patrick’s Church, and a mobile home for Home Economics classes in the alleyway between Church Street and Lincoln Street.
In September of 1981, students in grades seven through twelve began to attend classes in the newly constructed Mid-Valley Secondary Center on Underwood Road in Throop. The school in Olyphant was then used as an elementary school. It was closed in 1989 when the Mid-Valley Elementary School on Underwood Road opened.
The building is now the Lackawanna Heritage Apartments.
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