Westgate School celebrates anniversary

When Marybeth Anderson was a fourth-grader at Westgate Elementary School in Arlington Heights, things were different.

It was 1961. The school had only been open for a few years. There were no televisions and every student walked home for lunch. Fields surrounded the school on West Grove Avenue and the best piece of playground equipment was a tetherball stand.

"I still remember the clean crisp smell of the new school," said Anderson, who today is the principal of Olive Mary-Stitt Elementary School. Anderson was one of several speakers who talked to Westgate students during the school's recent 50th anniversary party.

Anderson also talked about her most memorable day at Westgate. It was May 5, 1961, and her 10th birthday. During class, her teacher lugged a heavy box from his car and plugged in into the wall. A few minutes later Anderson and her classmates watched Alan Shepard pilot the Freedom 7 mission and become the first American to travel into space.

"It was amazing," Anderson told Westgate students, who were all dressed in the school's green and white colors.

Westgate opened in 1957 at 1211 W. Grove St. after developer Leo Reuter donated 7 acres for the school. Westgate was originally a six classroom building for students in kindergarten through third grade.

In 1964 Dwyer School opened next door and served as a primary building so the school was renamed Westgate-Dwyer School.

Thirty years later, a huge addition joined Westgate and Dwyer schools and a new gym, common area, office, and library were added. "Dwyer" was dropped from the school's name and the new address became 500 S. Dwyer Ave.

Today Westgate Elementary School includes 100 staff and about 30 classrooms. The school serves about 600 students pre-kindergarten through the fifth grade.

In 2006 Westgate earned a Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence from the U.S. Department of Education.

More than 20,000 students have graduated from Westgate in the past 50 years, according to District 25 Superintendent Sarah Jerome.

Village President Arlene Mulder lives near the school and is a former Westgate Parent-Teacher Association member.

"I'm a Westgater," Mulder said. "My kids went to Westgate. I've always been proud to be a Westgate parent."