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NOBLE Digital Library >
Wakefield: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library >
Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department Calendars >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10262/4239
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| Title: | Education in Wakefield [picture] / Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department. |
| Issue Date: |
2004 |
| Publisher: | [Wakefield, Mass.] : Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department, |
| Abstract: | "The early settlers of Reading were men and women of modest means, concerned primarily with the building of modest domiciles for themselves, meeting houses, and sanctuaries where they could worship in peace. The first meeting hosue, built before 1647, no doubt exhausted their resources and left them with little from which to build their school. In 1680 the town was criticized by the General Court for definciency of a grammar school, causing the townspeople to make arrangements for one of their own to educate the children. The first schoolmaster was Master John Brown, Esq., one of the best educated and influential settlers. In 1693, 50 years after the town's incorporation, the town ordered that there should be a 'free' school kept in the town and appropriated four pounds for its support. The first teacher of the free school was Nicholas Lynde from Charlestown, a graduate of Harvard College in 1690. Students were taught by one teacher who traveled to different sections of the town. This teacher was responsible for teaching students in those sections for three to four months each year, a term determined by the Selectmen. In 1708, a committee was selected to help the town officials superintend the schools. This committee, not the first formal school committee, consisted of Capt. John Brown, Lieut. Hananiah and Ens. Nathaniel Parker. From 1721 to 1778, each separate parish was responsible for the care and support of the schools under the watch of the parish assessors who served as an unofficial school committee. The second schoool house was built in what is now Reading in 1708 and in 1799 Wakefield built three new school houses, one for the center district, one for the west and one for the south. The center district school was located at the northerly end of the Common and measured 28' x 24' and could seat, uncomfortably, about 100 pupils. In compliance with a law passed by the Legislature, the grammar school was established in 1791 and would be distinct from the English school. (These latter schools were schools in which the ancient languages were taught). At he same time, in 1792, the town chose regular school committees, a practice continued today. The first school committee was comprised of: Dr. John Hart (1792-94, 1796, 1801), Capt. David Smith (1792, 1794-96, 1798), William Gould (1792), Deacon Henry Putnam (1792-93, 1799), Dr. Martin Herrick (1792), Esq. James Bancroft (1792-93, 1796, 1801), Jonathan Poole, Jr. (1792), and Lt. Joseph Bancroft (1792), 1794, 1807). The first school-dame, Hannah Bragg, was hired by the town in 1792. In 1829 the South Reading Academy was incorporated and was intended as an introductory school to the Theological Seminary in Newton, although others could attend. The school played a major role in the community, causing many students to attain to higher levels of schooling, and promoting the need for a Town High School which was established in 1845. The South Reading Academy was discontinued in 1847. The first principal of South Reading High School was James F. Blackinton, a graduate of Attleborough Academy and Brown University. He served as principal from 1845 to 1848. In 1860 after several principals, the town adopted a new three year course of study for the high school, dividing the students into three classes. In 1863, 12 students sucessfully completed the prescribed course of study, constituting the 'First Class' to graduate from the High School and receive diplomas. In April, 1873, the town voted that the school committee authorize the appointment of a superintendent of schools due to the rapid growth of the town and the increase in the number of schools. The town felt that the supervision of the schools would be better handled by one person who could devote his attention to them, rather than have the schools supervised by a group of people of varied occupations who could only devote a small amount of time to the schools. On July 16, 1873, the school committee appointed Jonathan Kimball of Chelsea as the first Superintendent of Schools in Wakefield. He had previously served as Superintendent of Schools in Salem." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.
Captions: 1. James F. Blackinton, first High School Master (principal). -- 2. Wakefield High School's first football team (1893). |
| Description: | Photos courtesy of the Wakefield Historical Society.
2 pictures : |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10262/4239 |
| Appears in Collections: | Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department Calendars
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