Thursday, October 1, 2026
“I went to school here in 1962,” Long Beach resident Michael Ponte said. “Miss Henderson was the principal. Lunch was 35 cents, milk was 3 cents and an ice cream sandwich was 10 cents.”
Ponte was one of nearly 300 people — students, parents, alumni, current and former staff — who filled the East Elementary School playground in the early evening of May 19. The crowd gathered to celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, the Neptune Boulevard school’s 100th anniversary.
“We planned it for eight months or so, since the beginning of the school year,” East Elementary PTA Co-President Joanne Kapp recounted. “During one of our PTA meetings, we formed a committee of 15 to 20 people. Everybody collectively decided that the vibe here was a community block party — outside, music, things for the kids to run around and be part of the celebration.”
The festivities had a Long Beach block party theme, including food trucks, face painting, and the band Track 9 playing hits from across the school’s timeline. The evening began with a recorder concert and singing by the students, before City Council President Brendan Finn presented an official proclamation to honor the school’s achievement.
The centennial has been a classroom focus all year long. “One of the programs we have in school is called WINGS — what I need to grow as a student,” Principal Kathleen Connolly explained. “Students in grades three through five have been researching the decades and what the school looked like long ago, in each decade, and what was going on in the world during those decades.”
Students created a “decades walk” along the playground fence, displaying posters, photos and notes from each decade of the school’s existence. Alumni donated memorabilia dating back to the 1940s, and many wrote notes with their own recollections, which were on display.
“[It’s] part of why we chose to buy a house in the canals: to be near East School, because my children will graduate from the same elementary school that I did!” Todd Bleecker, fifth grade class of 1985, wrote of his children, Noah and Isabella, who will graduate in 2028. “And I think that’s pretty cool, and pretty meaningful.”
Adrienne Alfandani Albanese, class of 1958, shared two indelible memories. “I remember our ‘duck and cover’ drills and how our class served as guinea pigs for the Salk vaccine,” she wrote. “After school, my friends and I would walk to the Cozy Nook for snacks, laughter and good times together.”
The Long Beach Historical Society also played a key role in providing a look at early life at East. One flyer on display — a reprint of the "East School Parent Bulletin" from 1956 — was a genuine time capsule highlighting a much earlier celebration. Discussing the school's success after 30 years, Principal Velma W. Henrickson wrote to discuss messages she'd received from alumni about the school's "birthday."
"East School is still the same exciting, stimulating place it was then," Henrickson wrote. "And we are very grateful to our superior teachers and intelligent parents for helping us maintain this high standard."
Attendees also had an opportunity to shop at merchandise booths, which raised funds for the PTA and the school’s Odyssey of the Mind club. The PTA uses the money for annual events, including Teacher Appreciation Week. The Odyssey of the Mind club — which competes in events that blend theater, problem solving and engineering — sent a team to Ames, Iowa, for this year’s world finals, which are taking place this weekend.
“We are thrilled to celebrate 100 years of East School with the people who have helped shape its history,” Connolly wrote in a statement posted to the school’s website. “This milestone is an opportunity to honor our legacy, reconnect generations of families and alumni, and look ahead to the future of our school community.”
