Thank you to our partners at the Brookside Museum, home of the Saratoga County Historical Society, for preserving and celebrating all of the historical records of the district.

1797 – Legislative law funding education in NYS and Saratoga County.

1803 – The earliest school of which any record can be found was opened about 1803, and was kept in the Baptist church, which was built in that year.  This school was started through the combined efforts of Revs. Elias Lee and Elisha P. Langworthy.  It was a public school and was discontinued on the building of “The Academy.”

1811 – On April 24, at a meeting of the village trustees, it was voted to raise the sum of $1,400 “by a tax on the inhabitants and free-holders of this village to be appropriated at the discretion of the Trustees for defraying the expense of erecting a school house in the said village suitable and convenient for a common school.”  Nicholas Low, with his accustomed liberality and public spirit made a gift of the land required, and the large two-story building so long known as “The Academy” was erected the same year.  It was located on the south side of Galway Street, at the head of a new street which was opened from Front Street to provide ready access to the new school, the street receiving the appropriate name of Science street.  The first teacher was Mr. Blain, who taught the school for two years.  Mr. Gunnison was his successor in the fall of 1813, and announced in a village paper that an evening school would be opened in November in “The Academy.”

1836 – Two District School houses were built when The Academy was sold; one was located on the south side of High Street, between Ballston and Charlton Streets; the second a large two-story building on Milton Avenue at Hamilton.

1872 – The Legislature passed an Act incorporating “Union School District Number One, Milton,” the territory comprising the village of Ballston Spa.

1874 – The Bath Street School was built.  It cost $23,400, and was opened with the fall term on September 14, 1874. It served all grade levels.

1882 – The South Street School was built to accommodate the increasing number of students.  It opened in December 1882 and cost about $8,000 to build.

1891 – Both schools became overcrowded and the district needed to rent additional space.

1900 – The High School was built on Malta Avenue.  It also had a village museum, public library, Board of Education Room, and a Teacher Training Room.

1900 – With the opening of the new High School, the Bath Street School served only as a grammar school.

1915 – Malta Avenue Grade School built on Malta Avenue and Pine Street.

1915 – Bath Street School condemned.

1928 – New South Street School was built next to the old one, which was subsequently demolished.

1929 – The South Street School building is completed and ready for occupancy, with accommodations for six grades. The pupils to be from the north end of Ballston Spa. (The Saratogian, Monday, August 26, 1929)

1929 – The Junior High School building is being rushed to completion, but contactors will not have the gymnasium and auditorium ready for occupancy until a few weeks after school has resumed. (The Saratogian, Monday, August 26, 1929)

1957 – A new Junior Senior high school was built on Garrett Road.  The school cost $1,500,000 to build.

1968 – Ground breaking ceremony for the new primary- middle school at the Milton Terrace site. The facility will house 800 pupils from kindergarten through the second grade and 800 pupils in grades 6, 7, and 8. (Gazette article, 8/9/1968)

1971 – Proposal for new k-5 school (Milton Terrace South) building. (Ballston Journal, 5/20/1971)

1998 – Current Ballston Spa High School opens.

1998 – Middle School moves into the old Garrett Road high school building.

2013 – Gordon Creek Elementary School opens on the Wood Road/Milton Terrace site.

2014 – After a year of renovations Malta Avenue Elementary School reopens.

2015 - Milton Terrace North Elementary School is renamed to Milton Terrace Elementary School.

2015 - Renovations completed at Wood Road and Milton Terrace Elementary Schools. 

2017 - Renovations completed at the Ballston Spa Middle School, including a new parking area and pubic restrooms near the athletic stadium.

Bibliography:

Pastore, Paul and Marilyn. Ballston Spa: Streetscapes Through Time. 2007.

Centennial History of Ballston Spa, 1907.

Through the Years: A Pictorial History of the Village of Ballston Spa, New York. 1976.