This fun photo is annotated as “Mrs. Scharringhausen & Miss Scott, my 7th & 8th grade teachers.” The note was written by Edna B. Moore, who graduated from the Hopewell Grammar School on Model Avenue in 1923 (after 8th grade), and the Hopewell High School (in Pennington) in 1927.
Mrs. Scharring-Hausen (as usually spelled) and Miss Scott were indeed teachers at the Grammar School, so this photo was probably taken in the mid to late 1920s. However, it’s not clear where this was taken.
But this is not just a photo of two happy and friendly teachers. It also opens a window into exploring their lives, as they became educated and worked hard to transition from their farming upbringings into greatly appreciated contributors to the Hopewell Valley. Miss Scott, it turns out, was not only a long-time teacher, but was the principal of the Hopewell Grammar School for over a quarter century. And Mrs. Scharring-Hausen and her husband were contributors to Hopewell Valley agriculture – and literature – for half a century.
- See below for more on Hopewell Elementary and other local schools and high schools
Bertha I. Scott
Bertha I. Scott (1880–1963) was the principal of the Hopewell Grammar School for 26 years, from 1916 through 1942. She started at around age 36 at the Model Ave. location (aka the Lincoln Grammar School), and then become the first principal of the new school after the move to Princeton Ave. in 1926 (later Hopewell Elementary School). Previously, she had taught in South Jersey for nine and a half years.
Scott was born and raised in a farming family in Mullica Hill, Gloucester County, N. J. She worked diligently to become an educator, including six years of summer classes at the University of Pennsylvania, and graduate work at Rutgers University, finally receiving a Bachelors in Education in 1930. Her twin sister Edna married and remained in New Jersey, and her younger sister Verna also became a school teacher.
Scott took up permanent residence in Hopewell Borough in 1930 at around age 50, after the death of her mother. She was a church school teacher and choir member of the Presbyterian Church, and a member of the Memorial Day Association. She also taught classes in the school, including seventh grade. In 1935, her salary was $1500, compared to $1100 to $1300 for other grammar school teachers.
With the beginning of World War II, Scott’s responsibilities also included managing working permits for minors in 1940, and motorist registration for gas rationing in 1942. She also personally prepared the hot lunches for the school for several years, with the help of the students. In 1941, the school served “2046 cups of hot lunch,” with 1081 paid and 965 free, along with other free portions including apples, beans, and peanut butter.
Scott retired from the Hopewell schools in 1942, at around age 62. Her fellow teachers and friends held a surprise testimonial dinner, and presented her with a radio “as a loving gift and tribute of friendship.”
Scott had been a teacher for nearly 40 years, and served as principal of the Grammar School for 26 years. Her name appears first on the Hopewell Elementary School plaque listing principals since 1926, with 22 additional names covering the 82 years from 1942 to 2024 – or an average tenure of under 4 years each for Scott’s successors.
Ella H. Scharring-Hausen
Ella H. [Harris] Scharring-Hausen (1894–1984) taught at the Hopewell Grammar School from 1919 to 1925, including fifth and seventh grade, and history and spelling. In 1918 at around age 23, Ella married Robert Lewis Scharring-Hausen (1894–1969). They established the Scharring-Hausen farm on Moore’s Mill-Mt Rose Road in Glen Moore near the Golf Club. Robert lived there for 51 years until his death, and Ella eventually moved to Washington state.
Ella was born in Pennsylvania, and raised with her farm family in Allegheny and then Burlington, Pennsylvania, before they moved to Florence, New Jersey. By 1915, at age 21, she was working as a school teacher, as were her two sisters. At least into the 1940s she was deeply involved in the Hopewell Valley Golf Club, placing highly at events and winning the woman’s title. In 1940 and 1950 she was teaching again, in an elementary school and at a teacher’s college. The 1940 census also reported that she had completed four years of college.
Robert L. Scharring-Hausen was born and raised in Newark, and by 1917 at age 22 was working as a farm manager for the Boy Scouts of Plainfield.
In Hopewell, Robert was a poultry and egg dealer. He raised White Longhorn and New Hampshire chickens, added modern egg machinery in 1930, lectured locally on feeding chicks, won a silver cup for eggs at the state Agriculture Week in 1939, and was a president of the New Jersey Poultry Association.
A graduate of Rutgers University, Robert also served on the Hopewell Township Board of Education, and was an editor of the Pennsylvania Farmer for fifty years. Into his retirement, he was the Nature Columnist for the Sunday [Trenton] Times-Advertiser, appearing regularly on the editorial page for six and a half years until his death. An editorial honoring him quoted his last column, “After May’s Blossom Storm,” which described a back yard singing contest between a Baltimore oriole and the resident mockingbird: “It was the sort of thing a person might witness once in a lifetime, simply because he was fortunate enough to be there when it took place.”
Robert also authored the 1921 “Masque of Hopewell” Historical Pageant that was the major Library Week fundraising event for the new Hopewell Pubic Library and Museum building (see earlier post). The pageant had fifteen scenes portraying key events in Hopewell history, with over a hundred participants (including many descendants of the people portrayed).
Thanks again to Rich Anderson for sharing these family photos.
Please contact us if you know more about Bertha Scott or the Scharring-Hausens – or if you have photos, documents, or other similar materials to share on the history of Hopewell Valley schools.
More on Hopewell Valley Schools
Posts on school materials, including yearbooks, graduation programs, and plays.
- See also post on St. Michael’s Orphanage and School
Browse all School materials in the Image Album and Pamphlet Collection:
- Hopewell Schools History Posters – Hopewell Elementary School at the Harvest Fair
- Images – Hopewell Valley Schools Album – Class photos, classrooms, etc. (search by name, etc.)
- Pamphlets – Hopewell Valley Schools – Yearbooks, commencements, etc. (select by town, name, etc.)
Hopewell Valley Schools – History
- Post on Hopewell School Mascots – and the Frog – School names, mascots and logos
- Post on The Timberlane School Name – The Timberlane Drive development
- Post on Learning Your Letters – School Signs – Princeton High School (1919 / 1920)
- Post on Toll Gate and Hopewell Elementary School Centennials (2026)
Hopewell Borough Schools History – Grammar & High Schools
- Post on Hopewell Elementary School History – Hopewell Schools History posters
- Documents on Hopewell Borough Schools – Briefs and Posters
Hopewell Grammar School (Model Ave.) – 1888 – Posts & Materials
- Post on Model Ave. Grammar School Annex – Jewelry, invention, guitars, metalwork
- Post on c1912 Hopewell Grammar School Kids – Photos on Model Ave.
- Post on 1920s Hopewell Teachers – Scott & Scharring-Hausen
- Brief – Hopewell Grammar School Summary Brief (PDF)
- Brief – Hopewell Grammar School Annex Summary Brief (PDF)
Hopewell Elementary School (Princeton Ave.) – 1926 – Posts & Materials
- Post on the Hopewell Elementary School Centennial – history and additions
- Post on Hopewell Elementary School Class Plaques – 1926-1966 – Photos and names
- Post on 1941 Hopewell Elementary School Newspaper
- Post on 1952 Hopewell Elementary School – Graduation program and yearbook
- Pamphlets – 1956 Hopewell Elementary School “Hi-Lights” Newsletters
- Pamphlets – All Hopewell Elementary School Pamphlets – with yearbooks, graduation programs, newsletters
- Brief – Hopewell Elementary School Summary Brief (PDF)
Pennington Grammar School – Posts & Materials
- Post on 1950s Memories of Pennington – Mike Thomsen – Building evolution
Hopewell High School (Columbia Ave.) – 1910 – Posts & Materials
- Post on The Confusing Hopewell Firehouse – and Boro Hall and High School (1910)
- Post on 1917 Hopewell High School Yearbook – “Blue and Gold”
- Post on 1920s Hopewell High School – Commencement / Class Day books
- Post on 1924 Hopewell High School Program and Ads – Senior class play
- Post on 1927 Hopewell High School Diploma & Autograph Book
- Pamphlets – All Hopewell High School Pamphlets – with yearbooks, graduation programs, diploma
Hopewell Valley Central High School(s) (Pennington) – 1929 / 1958 – Posts & Materials
- Post on 1950s Memories of Pennington – Mike Thomsen – Buildings, school days
- Post on Central High School 1962 Practicum Report – School operations
- Post on Central High School 1961 Student Handbook – Rules & Clubs
- Post on Business Classes at Central High School, c. 1966 – Typing & bookkeeping
- Post on Central High School Class of 1966 – 2016 Reunion Scrapbook – Valley Images
- Post on Central High School Curriculum: 1962 & 1976 – Booklets
- Pamphlets – All Central High School Pamphlets – Yearbooks, graduation programs, curriculum
See also the Document Archive for additional historical school materials.
