What did the Briarcliff Grade School building become known as?
The first institute for higher education in the village was the School of Practical Agriculture and Horticulture, which Walter Law helped establish on his Briarcliff Farms in 1900. The school taught students ages 16 to 35 in crop and livestock care. In 1902, the school moved to a larger location near Poughkeepsie and closed a year later due to a lack of funding. In addition, Briarcliff Manor has been the location for several colleges. Briarcliff Junior College was founded in 1903 at the Briarcliff Lodge, and moved near Briarcliff Congregational Church, on land Walter Law donated, in 1905. Among its trustees were Howard Deering Johnson, Norman Cousins, Carl Carmer, Thomas K. Finletter, William Zorach, Eduard C. Lindeman, and Lyman Bryson. Ordway Tead was chairman of the board of trustees, and his wife Clara was the college's first president. The school gradually improved its academic scope and standing, and was registered with the State Education Department and accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in 1944. In 1951, the Board of Regents authorized the college to grant Associate of Arts and Associate of Applied Science degrees. The following year, the Army Map Service selected the college as the only one in the country for professional training in cartography. In 1956, the junior college started issuing bachelor's degrees, and became known as Briarcliff College. In 1977 Pace University bought Briarcliff College and the Spanish Renaissance-style Briarcliff Grade School building, incorporating them into its Pleasantville campus. The Briarcliff Grade School building, which housed the village public school from 1909 to 1980, became known as the Pace University Village Center. During Pace's occupation, the building housed the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society and the Village Youth Center. Pace University operated the school building until its demolition in 1996, and the Briarcliff College campus until 2015. At the Briarcliff Lodge property, the Edgewood Park School operated from 1936 to 1954, and King's College subsequently operated there from 1955 to 1994, also using the lodge building and other dormitories and academic buildings.
Pace University Village Center