Seven months after his death, Arthur Couch will be honored. The Board of Educated voted on Dec. 12 to name the auditorium that will be attached to the high school after him.
Couch served as schools superintendent in Secaucus for more than two decades, establishing many of the basic programs still in use today, and saw the reconstruction and new construction of the elementary schools, as well as the construction of the high school.
Although Couch grew up in Secaucus, he was born in North Bergen went to St. Brigid’s elementary school in North Bergen and St. Michael’s High School in Union City. He served as a Navy air combat crewman in World War II – and received several metals for his service in the Philippines. After the war, he attended Upsala College, where he majored in history and played on the football and basketball teams. He received his BA from Upsala College in 1950, and his master’s degree in history from NYU in 1951.
He started teaching at the Cliffside Park school district where he also served as assistant football coach. He served as assistant football coach at St. Joseph’s High School in West New York, taking over as head coach there in 1952. He was twice named Hudson County coach of the year and once named the North Jersey Catholic League coach of the year.
Overall, Couch was involved in education for 34 years and in the Secaucus school district for 27 years.
In 1957, he was named principal of Lincoln Junior High School in 1957.
Couch found serious problems there – like a scene out of the movie Blackboard Jungle. Not only were conflicts among students common, but the facilities themselves were in dire need of repair, with plaster falling everywhere. His innovations helped reshape the school during his three years there, creating what local officials called “an atmosphere for education.”
In 1961, when he became superintendent of Secaucus schools, he renovated Lincoln Junior High School and even added a science room.
Many recall Couch as bringing a new era of discipline to the school.
Political foes that grew close
Former Mayor Paul Amico, who was elected mayor the same year Coach became superintendent of schools, chuckled over the fact that they started out as political opponents.
“He was the brother-in-law of Mayor Jimmy Moore, so when I got elected we found ourselves on opposite sides,” Amico said. “We knew each other before that and got along. But for a while there was a little tension. But little by little, we developed a good relationship.”
Amico said both had progressive philosophies, Couch in the schools, Amico in the town.
“We supported building the high school together, and when it went down the first time, we made sure it got passed later on,” Amico said.
Upgrading decaying school buildings became one of his early priorities, and during his tenure as superintendent, he refurbished Huber Street School, rebuilt Clarendon School at a new location and eventually led the successful fight to construct a high school in Secaucus for the first time.
” [Couch] understood the relationship of buildings to the overall education program, Schools Superintendent Constantino Scerbo said. “In 1960, during his first annual report as superintendent of schools, he proposed a three-step building program.”
This included the rehabilitation of Lincoln Junior High School, the demolition of the Old Huber Street School and the construction of its replacement, and the construction of a new Clarendon School.
Clarendon Principal Ralph Merlo credited Couch with overseeing the cutting-edge design of the New Clarendon School, which created an “innovative environment” for learning.
“By 1970… all three proposals were approved and completed by the Board of Education,” Scerbo said, noting that in the 1970s, Couch went on to push for the high school and got it built.
“Repeated obstacles and roadblocks marked the journey from its vision to its reality,” said Secaucus High School Principal Pat Impreveduto in a speech given on Couch’s behalf in 1999, claiming that Couch “clearly saw the future and was determined to give the community “an institution that shaped the people.”
Before 1973, students from Secaucus had to attend high school elsewhere in Hudson County.
Carmen Ross, two time Board of Education president, said he served with Couch during the later part of Couch’s term.
“When he took over as superintendent, we had no high school. We had two old elementary schools and a junior high school,” he said. “Under Arthur, Secaucus built a new Clarendon School, refurbished the high school and built a high school.”
Although he retired from coaching as soon as he became superintendent, Couch never forgot sports. In the early 1960s, Couch raised the necessary $8,000 to start the town’s recreational football program. This was eventually to lead to a year-round recreation program that would take the place of the summer-only program that had previously existed.
Anthony D’Elia, former principal to Clarendon School, remembered Couch and current Board of Education President Ed Rittberg helping to make the Secaucus recreation football team “a force to be reckoned with in the Meadowlands.”
A pioneer in every aspect
Couch was later called a pioneer for Secaucus sports and education, involving himself in almost every aspect. He struggled to make people understand the need for Secaucus to have its own high school and shaped the athletics department even before the school was built.
Couch selected Rittberg as the high school’s first athletic director and head football coach, according to current Athletic Director Stan Fryczynski.
“Together they worked closely on the construction of the athletic department, equipment, fields, staff selection and budgeting,” he said.
Yet, most people who remembered working with him recall Couch’s dedication to arts and education. Couch brought new programs to the school district, emphasizing individual instruction in mathematics and reading in the elementary schools.
“I was a student in the eighth grade at Lincoln Junior high school when Couch took over,” Mayor Dennis Elwell recalled. “He was known as a coach, but he was also known for his love of community and more than just for his love of sports. He believed in providing students with music and other things necessary for a full, rounded education. He was a man who molded Secaucus High School from a time when it was just a dream and modernized our educational programs here, taking us from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s into the 21st Century. I’m very pleased that they are naming the auditorium after him.”
He developed an organized guidance program and cumulative record system where none existed before.
Many people remember how he insisted upon developing an instrumental music program to replace one teacher who traveled around the school district.
“I remember him telling me about his travels around the state and how proud we should be for a town our size to have a marching band, concert band and coral music program,” said Mayor Dennis Elwell.
“Arthur insisted on music and art,” Rittberg said. “He brought the plays to the high school and the marching bands.”
Couch insisted on the creation of the Patriot Booster Club and the Marching Band Parents’ Organization – two organizations that still operate. He always pushed for instrumental and vocal musical program and encouraged putting on various theater productions – making certain that the district had the staff that would make such productions possible.
Seeking new teachers
Couch also led a campaign to find qualified teachers.
“He hired staff, designed and implemented an education program and as a superintendent he was an excellent, forceful leader and innovator,” Ross said. “Artie was a good guy, innovator, dreamer, strong on education. He thought the focal points of a community were the schools, and he believed that any community that wanted to succeed needed to have strong schools. He always impressed me with his complete grasp of issues and how prepared he was. He was always willing to discuss an issue if you needed to know something or if you disagreed with him.”
When he took over in 1961, Couch encountered an aging work force with many teachers nearly at the point of retiring and very few new teachers applying for jobs in Secaucus schools.
Robert Hesterfer, who recently retired as the school district’s activities coordinator and Municipal Drug Alliance chairman, recalled Couch recruiting him. Couch was also responsible for other teachers such as the current Middle School principal, Fred Ponti.
“He went out and hired top-notch people and brought them into district,” Rittberg recalled.
Couch later said the pay was poor and the working conditions were bad. The improvement of the buildings and especially the opening of the high school helped bring many new well-qualified teachers to Secaucus. He pursed new teachers for the school, many of whom also served as interscholastic coaches, club and co-curricular moderators.
Couch also:
Planned and organized the first joint district venture in Hudson County, an emotional health team serving the Weehawken, Guttenberg and Secaucus school districts.
Wrote the first Secaucus Board of Education “Manual of Policies, Rules and Regulations.”
Assumed full function of the board secretary and business administrator during an illness, demonstrating more than usual acquaintance with the business functions of the board.
Initiated a district wide “extended-day kindergarten” which provided reading and math instruction to more advanced students.
Scerbo called Couch “a man that was always there, who was always willing to listen, who attended [students’] sporting events, their social events … a man who cared about them.”
One of Couch’s great disappointments was the fact that he had not seen the construction of an auditorium, an auxiliary gym at the high school.
With the auditorium now taken care of, his dreams may be complete. The Town Council is looking into ways to build a recreation center at the high school as well.
A long time in coming
In voting to approve the name the new auditorium after former Superintendent of Schools Arthur Couch, the Board of Education considered the proposal for more than a month, said Board President Ed Rittberg.
“We didn’t rush into this,” he said.
Two years ago, the Board of Education named the high school complex (the middle school, high school and playing fields) after former Mayor Paul Amico. (The schools themselves are not named after Amico, but the complex is.) This set a precedent that made it impossible avoid naming something after Couch – the man, school officials said, who “set the footprint for today’s Secaucus School District.”
“The problem was there was no proper way to recognize the man until the dream of an auditorium became a reality with the passage of the Sept. 24, 2002 referendum,” Rittberg told the Board of Education members at their Dec. 12 meeting.
Rittberg, however, made it clear that he opposed renaming any of the schools since this would be unfair to people who had graduated already from those schools. He also noted that if the auditorium was not named for Couch, someone would attach a name to it later.
Eight of the nine members of the Board of Education voted for the naming. Michael Pesci was absent but had indicated to Scerbo that he also agreed with the naming.
“This wasn’t done in a hurry,” said Rittberg. “We talked about this over three caucus meetings and discussed it.”
Board member Tom Troyer not only approved of Couch’s name for the new auditorium, but the way the issue was handled by the board.
“This is the way we should do everything,” he said. “We should have discussion and time to consider the issue.” – Al Sullivan