Crossroads:
School History in Motion
Were you there, and if you were, do you remember?
Recording the history –
a perpetual work in progress
You may be in on a well-kept secret. 2024 represents the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of Crossroads. The school was, and is, a rather unique institution, not only in St. Louis, but throughout the entire country.
We started as just a middle school in a part of town called LaClede Town. Now, two locations later, the school continues to thrive, with grades seven through twelve. It is a school that somehow has retained much of the warmth, care and informality of the earliest days of the school.
It’s a very different world now than it was in 1974. The school started one month after Richard Nixon resigned. The personal computer had not yet been marketed. The number one song of the year was “The Way We Were” by Barbra Streisand. The Arch was nine years old.
Crossroads started with fifty students. Along with parents, they were pioneers, testing a new school, to see if it worked and beat the odds to succeed (it clearly did).
In the first year, our five teachers were all in their twenties. In large part, we made it up as we went along. A commonality among our teachers was that we had been “burned” by our experiences when we were students in middle and high school. We wanted create a community where everyone could be heard and respected.
Yearbooks
Yearbooks can be a window into students’ world, individually and collectively. We actually have some from fifty years ago when photography was almost entirely black and white and always grainy. But there were funny stories then, plays on words, just as there are now. Below are stories of the first fifteen years of Crossroads, as told by individuals who had many of the same adolescent struggles that teenagers have now, but who also knew they were pioneers of something new.
1974-1975
1977-1978
1980-1981
Refreshingly, the current co-directors of the school, Mark Norwood and Sarah Pierson-Wolff, embody the values, practices and humor that have always been central to the school’s establishment and longevity. As the school looks forward to another fifty years and more, the school community recognizes that something that is missing from the school is a recorded history of Crossroads. It is for that reason that we are writing you.
Crossroads School Newspapers and Magazines
Urbanite
This was the school’s first newspaper, from the LaClede Town days. Entirely written and produced by middle school students, it may have propelled a number of students into the world of journalism.
Chronicle
The Chronicle was the flagship publication of the early years of Crossroads as a high school. It covered local news, sports, the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood and everything inside Crossroads including the weather in different classrooms.
Opinion
Crossroads students were curious about what people thought any why they did as they did. From the beginning, students hit the streets of Clayton to query the public. They also did in Chicago, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Washington, DC. Their often accurate and always engaging findings are found in Opinion Magazine.
Connection
How could you have a ‘PR-Rag’ and also tell the truth? In the 1980s, parent Pat Kohn figured it out and put together a magazine that both informed the public about Crossroads and also gave praise where due to key members of the Crossroads community.
When we talk about this kind of project, some people feel very comfortable and enthusiastic to participate. Others don’t like to be reminded of the days of middle school and high school and want to keep their distance. We’re going to try to be sensitive to each person, however they might feel. If you want to engage, please let us know. If you want us to leave you alone, let us know that as well.
In the first year, our five teachers were all in their twenties. In large part, we made it up as we went along. A commonality among our teachers was that we had been “burned” by our experiences when we were students in middle and high school. We wanted create a community where everyone could be heard and respected.
Individual Crossroads Reflections & Memorabilia
Memorabilia
Carol was an outstanding artist as were many other teachers and students who spent their days, and some nights, at Crossroads. This section includes photos and drawings of students’ work, and memorabilia from their days at Crossroads. There has to be more hiding in people’s basements and attics.
Reflections
Pictured above is Home #2 for Crossroads. Owned by the Archdiocese of St. Louis, it was the scene of 75 students and untold numbers of teachers “figuring it out.” Many of their thoughts, as well as others who made Crossroads their daily home, are included in this section.
Countdown to the Reunion
Mark Your Calendars!
Friday, September 20, 2024 at Noon
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