Family reunion: Creeds school turns 85 years old

On June 6, Creeds Elementary will host a family reunion-style 85th anniversary celebration.

All are invited, especially people who attended or worked at the school. The event includes a student art exhibit and poetry contest, a presentation from city officials, and historical artifacts including registers and gradebooks dating back to the 1930s.

The celebration is from 6 to 8 p.m. and features food trucks and barbecue.

“One of the most special aspects of Creeds is that we have generations of investment from our community,” said principal Casey Conger. “Creeds is not just a school. It’s the hub of the southern end of our city and a core life memory for most of our Pungo, Blackwater and Creeds families. While we aim to honor and celebrate the past, we continuously strive to build upon a tradition of excellence.”

Creeds means family, said former principal Robin Davenport. “It is a home that cares about the children, the families and its staff. Creeds is ‘Simply the Best!’”

Here are some facts about the school from the archives of The Virginian-Pilot and other sources:

The elementary school traces its history to 1848, when Blossom Hill, a one-room schoolhouse, opened in what was then Princess Anne County about five miles south of the current building.
The current school building was built in 1939 and served as a high school for Princess Anne County until 1954, when it became an elementary school.
The original building was built by the Works Progress Administration as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.
The Creeds graduating class of 1951 was 13 students. The class of 1943 had 21 students.
There were four principals of the high school from 1939-1954; and as an elementary school, there have been eight principals from 1954 to present.
In 2001, renovations included a larger main office and clinic, a gymnasium, cafeteria and kitchen. A computer lab and several classrooms were updated. A public library was constructed next to the school.
Creeds may be an old school, but it boasted air conditioning. This isn’t necessarily because of the heat, according to former principal James Minter.“When the wind was just right, all you could smell was hog farms,” Minter said in a Pilot article in 1985. “It made it very hard to concentrate when you couldn’t breathe.”
Creeds Elementary is so far south, it’s closer to the North Carolina border than to Pungo.
Some Creeds students live on Knotts Island, where there is one street that is Virginia property but the state line is underwater. They’re technically Virginia residents, although Knotts Island is part of North Carolina.