Thomas W. Pyle Middle School, located on Wilson Ln. in Bethesda, recently welcomed a special guest with a direct connection to the school’s history.
According to MCPS, Jane Pyle Harriss, the 97-year-old daughter of the school’s namesake, Thomas W. Pyle, visited the school for the first time. Although she missed the school’s dedication more than 60 years ago, Harriss had the opportunity to walk the halls, learn about today’s school community, and reflect on her family’s legacy.
During the visit, Harriss shared memories of growing up in the area and recalled that her family once stabled horses on the farmland where the school now stands. Staff members gave her a tour of the building and shared historical artifacts connected to her father, including a handcrafted table he built that was donated back to the school many years ago.
Thomas W. Pyle Middle School, which originally opened as Thomas W. Pyle Junior High School, is named after Thomas Walter Pyle, a longtime Montgomery County educator who was born in Harford County in 1888. Pyle came to Montgomery County in 1921 as principal of the Poolesville school after six years of teaching outside Maryland. In 1926, he became principal of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, a position he held until 1949, before later serving as secondary supervisor and assistant superintendent for MCPS.
According to biographical information first published in a 1962 handbook distributed at the school’s dedication ceremony, Pyle served as assistant superintendent of the Montgomery County Board of Education from 1951 until his retirement in June 1958, shortly after his 70th birthday. He earned a B.S. degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Teachers College, and also completed graduate study at the Universities of Maryland and Chicago.
The 1962 handbook also noted that Pyle taught courses in administration and supervision at the University of Maryland from 1929 until the year after his retirement. One longtime local resident described him as a quiet, unassuming leader whose influence on education in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area was deeply felt.
County educators honored Pyle at a testimonial dinner shortly before his retirement, where he and his wife were presented with round trip tickets for a world cruise. After several delays, they were able to take the trip in 1960. Thomas Walter Pyle died on March 1, 1967, at the age of 78.
