Bonnie's sixth-grade class at Falk, 1944. Front row (left to right): Alan Fisher, Ross Emerson, Susie Silverstein, Jane Garrison, Catherine Engelder, Bonnie Baird, Arthur Evans, David Starrett; back row (right to left): two unknown, sixth-grade teacher, Wesley Stangey, Donald Fields, Beryl Warden, Richard Muskovitch.

Bonnie (Baird) Mitchell attended Falk Laboratory School through sixth grade, beginning in 1938. Today, Bonnie says her memories from Falk are some of her very best. "The years at Falk established my early love of learning in a friendly environment where each child was important. This was a lesson for the future and one shared with [my] family.” 

After Falk, Bonnie attended the Ellis School and graduated from Winchester Thurston School in 1950. She was then an English major at Hood College in Frederick, MD before returning to the University of Pittsburgh and ultimately receiving a B.A. in English from the University of Tulsa. Bonnie’s five children share her love of learning and thank their mother for instilling in them a high regard for education. 

Falk Elementary School certificate, given at the close of Bonnie's sixth-grade year in 1944.

Now a grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of one (soon to be two), Bonnie shares the following memoir of her time at Falk:

There are many happy memories of my old grade school, Falk, set on a hill and still there, the same pleasant atmosphere abounding from her walls. I looked forward to each day and sometimes my mother brought me back on weekends to climb on the jungle gym outside. The jungle gym had three layers of bars with a top tower. Reaching the top was an achievement, and once achieved, I would stare over the playground and trees. 

Bonnie on the Falk playground.

The trees at Falk were friendly, no rough bark, just right for a good climb. Then the slide was magical in some ways as it had a bar at the top for swinging onto the metal surface. It was also good and daring for a somersault. Moving on to the swings was a delight, sailing up to the sky and dreaming. Everything at Falk was good for dreamers in my time, no homework, capable but far from ordinary teachers. 

Off of each well-lit classroom was a small workshop, the true joy of a non-public school. A saw, wood and various tools was a unique experience for a young girl of my age. We built everything from barns to steel mills, where each year, we had a different project to arouse curiosity, and it did. 

I thrived at Falk with its large gym and stage. In the gym on rainy days, and there were numerous rainy days in Pittsburgh, we would play a game called Red Rover. Lined up, we were divided into two teams, boys and girls, then we called, “Red Rover, Red Rover, come over, come over,” and we charged. At Falk, there were boys, unlike some of my later schools, and I loved a game of tackle football, which I insisted was the real thing. I told my father of such games, and he smiled, delighted. 

1942 newspaper clipping featuring "The Nutcracker Suite," a performance by Falk Elementary School.

This was not a typical elementary school, we put on plays with a teacher playing a piano. Pictures were often taken and forwarded to a hungry newspaper. Our school was alert to everything, and the students went on to accelerate in a variety of fields. Most importantly, I just loved every minute of Falk School.

“My father was the one to enroll me at Falk,” Bonnie adds, “[He] was Dr. Joseph S. Baird, then head of Municipal Hospital, now known as Salk Hall. This was a vital time in the medical history of Pittsburgh. The Polio vaccine was imminent.” 

“I lived at the Municipal Hospital in those years [and recall] my father’s work with extremely sick children, although, of course, I was never allowed near the wards. While at Falk, the old Municipal Hospital was still around, and if my father could not drive me to Falk, the ambulance driver would. Then we moved to the new hospital in 1941, now much nearer to Falk School.”  

A Christmas letter from Bonnie to her parents, written during fifth-grade class in 1942.

Today, one of Bonnie’s granddaughters, Roni Mitchell, teaches at Ohlone Elementary School, a grade school in Palo Alto that shares Falk’s whole-child teaching philosophy.  

Joseph S. B. Mitchell, Roni's father and a well-known mathematician, writes, "My wife and I are teachers too—well, professors of mathematics and computer science, at Stony Brook University (part of SUNY). I (and my 4 siblings) were all CMU students (physics majors; I doubled in math) and often walked in and around Pitt in Oakland over the years the five of us were there (1975-1994). We all went on for PhDs.” 

1942 newspaper clipping highlighting National Book Week at Falk Elementary School.

“I remember Falk School in everything,” Bonnie shares. “Many after-school activities—theater, [which was written about] in the newspapers, dance, climbing trees, jungle gym climbing, lunch, teachers, Miss Stark, Mrs. Davis. Some of my classmates [were] Jane Garrison, David Starrett, Ross Emerson, Cathy Engelder, Lila Rosenthal, Susie Silverstein, Esther Murdock, Jeannie Carter.” 

“My years at Falk School were some of the best years of my long life,” Bonnie shares, “and to the school, I am indebted for my early education and art appreciation. Art at Falk, as well as a diverse group of classmates, is an important factor in my present paintings. Hundreds of oil paintings have been the result.” 

Bonnie en route from Zurich to Salzburg with her son, searching for new scenes to paint. View her art collection online.