Before 1950

When the sun beams into the many windows of Howard T. Herber Junior High School it initiates the beginning of a school day. Students are noisy as they get ready to sit in classrooms and listen to their teachers lecture about the fundamental subjects that will prepare them to succeed in high school. The Malverne Public Schools, Howard T. Herber Junior High School and Malverne High, are located directly across from each other on Ocean Avenue. Many other neighboring towns send their children to Malverne High and the Junior High. This mix of students gives the Malverne schools diversity. This is interesting since the actual town of Malverne does not have much diversity in itself. Chatting to the locals gives you a bit of information into the town and their history.
Howard T. Herber was actually the High school before Malverne bought the lake across from it and built what is today known as Malverne High. Howard T. Herber was built during the Great Depression. The gnome decorations all around the school are indicative of that given that gnomes were a popular décor around the 1930s. The building is made up of brick and is large in length. This photograph is only a portion of this school. Some of the bricks on the school look lighter than the other parts, which might mean that the school went under some renovation from the Great Depression till present day. On both sides of the main door are cemented columns. This style is also old fashioned and would not be in modern architecture. Above the entrance doors reads “To Give Each Child An Opportunity For Educational Advancement”. This sign in cement above the doors also is a design used in earlier decades. Normally today that quote would be on a sign on the grass or on their schools mission statement. This school also does not have central air but rather air conditioners hanging out of the windows. That is a loud sign that this school is not new and has seen a few decades in its lifetime. Howard T. Herber is also quite well kept with much trimmed grass surrounding it and little bushes around the stairs. This greenery gives the school a serene feeling.