LIVERPOOL — After four decades, the Liverpool High School (LHS) Annex will be closing its doors as a ninth-grade campus.
The Liverpool Central School District Education 2020 plan is implementing the quadrant model, reconfiguring the district to include four K–2 schools, four campus (3–5, 6–8) schools and one (9–12) high school. It will see the closure of Nate Perry Elementary, and the Annex will be converted into a fourth middle school.
The process will occur in two stages — the first will see incoming freshmen moved into the high school’s main building in the fall of 2021, and the second will implement the quadrant model and convert the Annex into the Morgan Road Complex in fall 2022.
The building, originally created to accommodate the large district, allowed freshmen to meet from the three middle schools and interact with each other more intimately before moving up to the main Liverpool High School building.
According to Deputy Superintendent Daniel Henner, district enrollment has gone down by 1,000 students over the last four decades, and there is no longer a need for the Annex as it was originally intended.
“As we move forward with Education 2020, the intent is to always do the most we can possibly do for our students within the budget that the community has adopted,” Henner said.
Though the Annex may be coming to an end, the impact of the building and the memories created within will last for years.
Desiree Holz, a 2019 Liverpool graduate, remembers her time at the Annex as a transition period where she was able to make friends and establish a set of expectations that she would later carry into the main building.
“I was able to intimately focus on just that year and not be super overwhelmed by a big school,” Holz said. “I had this lack of maturity because I was literally 14, but [the Annex] helped me focus and kind of build the stepping stones to get me to where I am now.”
Holz said the Annex provided her stability and set up a foundation for the rest of her academic career, noting helpful advice from guidance counselors and encouragement from past teachers.
Jake Socker, a rising senior at LHS, spoke highly of his Annex experience.
“It was very calm and simple because all the ninth graders had their own space. You didn’t have to deal with any drama or any of the extra stuff,” he said. “It was a nice introduction to high school.”
Holz and Socker said they were happy to have had the Annex as a precursor to the main building. They said they felt more at ease at LHS having already established friendships within the Annex.
The Annex’s unique shape allowed the school to divide itself into teams, creating little communities of students and staff within the building. The proximity of the teams helped staff members create families of their own, according to Thomas Catera, who has taught in Liverpool for 19 years.
“With a smaller community, you have more of a familial culture. We had 70 adults in that building, and everyone knew everyone, you know. We were all very friendly with one another, and socially, we did more together. We went to each other’s weddings, children’s birthdays.” Catera said. “We’re going to try to maintain that as we go back to being a 9–12 building, but it’s something I really hope that we don’t lose, because I think that was the greatest part about being in the Annex.”
Catera will return to the main building this upcoming school year after working in the Annex for the past 14 years, alongside his colleague Andrew Calderwood.
After working in the Annex for 23 years, Calderwood said he will miss the camaraderie the most.
“The earth science teachers are very tight. Because of our schedule, we used to have lunch together,” Calderwood said. “During those times, when you have more opportunity to dialogue with your colleagues, ultimately, that affects the quality of your teaching, which affects the success of the students. So, I think the best part is the people.”
While those like Catera and Calderwood are ultimately excited to see the LHS community grow stronger with these changes, leaving the Annex — and its community — behind will not be easy. Because of the Annex’s smaller size, the community was able to hold ice cream socials and student award brunches, according to Catera, who reflected fondly on those times.
Anthony Anello, now retired, taught at the Annex for 28 years. He agreed that it was the people who made the Annex a great environment.
“People love being with each other. And it was a lot of fun being with them because then you go back to work and work as hard as possible because you didn’t want to let your friends down,” Anello said.
