Esteemed WCASD Administrator to Retire
After 36 Years of Service
David L. Flamer Leaves on July 16, 2008
(West Chester, PA) - March 10, 2008 - The West Chester Area School District today announced the retirement of David L. Flamer, Director of Middle School Education, effective July 16, 2008, following the conclusion of the current school year. Mr. Flamer began his career with the district in 1972 as an elementary school teacher of the third and fourth grades.
Mr. Flamer held a number of teaching and administrative positions over the course of 36 years in the district while continuing his education, earning master’s degrees in elementary and secondary education, a principal’s certificate for both elementary and secondary levels, and an assistant superintendent’s and superintendent’s letter of eligibility.
In 2001, he moved into the district’s Spellman Administration Building as the Director of Elementary Education, a position he held until 2005. He is ending his career as the Director of Middle School Education and Minority Achievement for the district.
Dr. Alan Elko, WCASD Superintendent, said, “Dave has been an invaluable asset to our district and our community in so many ways. His experience with K through 12 educational issues, as well as his knowledge of the rich history of our school district, has allowed him to provide unique leadership as a planner and as a decision-maker.”
In his time with the district Mr. Flamer has seen the West Chester area evolve from being a mostly agriculture-focused community to one in which its urban and suburban contributions became a source of growth and diversity. As student academic achievement soared, the reputation of the school district also climbed throughout the region.
“The constant and the high-point throughout my career has been the relationships I’ve enjoyed with the students,” said Mr. Flamer. “There have always been opportunities in this school district to do things outside the classroom, to help direct children not only during the day but after school as well. I have been fortunate to see the full scope of how education impacts children.”
A lot has changed since Mr. Flamer accepted his first teaching position. In 1972, when he first came to the West Chester Area School District, West Chester B. Reed Henderson was the only high school. He was just out of West Chester University with a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education. He accepted a position teaching third and fourth grades in one of the borough schools - E. N. Peirce Elementary at Church and Biddle Streets.
Peirce Elementary School, where his career began, has been converted into the Washington Square Apartments and the name “Peirce” has been transferred to what had been North Junior High. The area occupied by what was once the High Street Elementary school is now occupied by a Burger King. And the West Chester Borough Municipal Building sits on property once occupied by the Gay Street School.
Two new high schools - West Chester East and West Chester Bayard Rustin - have opened their doors, as have two new elementary schools - Hillsdale and Starkweather. Computers have reduced the use of pen and paper in nearly all subjects at every grade level. Chalk dust is becoming a distant memory as dustless “smartboards” appear in the classrooms.
Fugett, Peirce and Stetson Middle Schools were open and operating – but as East, North and South Junior High Schools, respectively. And instead of the ten elementary schools that serve district students today, there were 13. Five of the original elementary schools have since closed, including three in the borough.
With all that change, the students have remained a constant for Mr. Flamer. It was his own experience as a school child in the classroom that led him to choose education as a career.
“Up until the second grade, I attended the segregated James Adam Elementary School in Coatesville,” Mr. Flamer recalled. “When the Coatesville School District desegregated in 1957, I was transferred to Caln Elementary School. My siblings and I represented the only black family enrolled in the school at the time. My teacher, James Rocco, took me under his wing and made education come alive. From that day forward, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher.”
Recalling other highlights of his career, Mr. Flamer felt especially privileged to meet and host some famous figures from the Civil Rights movement who spoke at our schools. They included Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King III, and Bayard Rustin.
Prior to desegregation, the majority of African-American and Hispanic students attended the three elementary schools in the borough, while the outlying suburban schools were overwhelmingly white. The condition of the schools made the situation even more problematic; the borough schools were landlocked, old, and deteriorating, while the suburban schools were relatively new. The solution, reached after years of discussion and implemented in the 1977-78 school year, was to close down the borough schools and assign minority students to the outlying township schools. The decision to do that has served the district well, and the prevailing desegregation plan remains in place today.
“The process was time consuming and required a great deal of sensitivity,” Mr. Flamer recalled. “The borough residents were not in favor of closing their schools. They liked community-based education, where children could walk to school. It took a great deal of foresight and education to promote equity. We are still monitoring and pursuing equity for all children today.”
He added that the suburban schools had been built and funded by the individual townships. Those residents also fought a desegregation plan that they saw as threatening their ownership of schools. Some of the public meetings were heated and long. “But no matter how sharp the differences of opinion,” Mr. Flamer said, “there was always civility among the Planning Committee members.”
As a professional educator, Mr. Flamer feels he has been blessed to be part of a large network of relationships that frequently crossed generations. “In 1976, when Peirce Elementary School closed, I was transferred to Mary C. Howse Elementary, where I taught third and fifth grade,” he recalled. “Betty Connor was teaching in that building. Her husband, James Connor, was the building principal way back when I was a student at Caln Elementary. Betty made it comfortable for me because of the past relationship. Later on she taught my daughter in kindergarten. I’ve seen that kind of connection occur over and over in my career.”
From Mary C. Howse, his career took him to Peirce Middle School as a sixth grade reading and health teacher as well as athletic director. He then served as an assistant principal at Henderson High School, as a principal at Hillsdale Elementary, and as a principal at Peirce Middle School. He also coached wrestling, track and cheerleading at Henderson High School.
Through all that, Mr. Flamer played a role in many programming and instructional changes that shaped the district. All are part of the rich store of memories that he will take into retirement. When pressed, he singles out his role in desegregation as among the most meaningful.
Mr. Flamer was also proud of the role Hillsdale Elementary School played in advancing technology while he was principal.
“We were the first school to network the Internet,” he said. “It was a volunteer effort, and it led the way for other schools. It opened the door for a district-wide effort to bring technology into the classroom.”
The school district today is indeed far different from the school district he came to know with his first position in 1972. He leaves with a great deal of pride in what he has been able to contribute to the district’s growing reputation for excellence, and with hope for the future.
“Life is far different today,” he noted. “Students are more academically oriented. They are pressured to excel and to make decisions about their future much earlier than they were in the past. At the same time, the delivery of instruction has been impacted by No Child Left Behind. Test scores and benchmarks are increasingly used to measure success.
“But with all these stresses,” Mr. Flamer continued, “we as a school district have not lost touch with the importance of a well-rounded education. That includes the creative arts, music, and athletics as well as rigorous academics. Our students leave our schools enriched and well- prepared to meet the challenges of the world today. I am proud of the part I played in the life of this district and the lives of its students.”
Mr. Flamer noted that he had successfully overcome a serious health issue through the course of the previous year and had returned to his position healthy and energized. “I look forward to applying my energies to new pursuits but education will always be close to my heart,” he said.
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Media Contact: Rob Partridge, WCASD Communications Program Director
484-266-1170 / rpartridge@wcasd.net
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