HS_History+All

= = **History of Ward/Westerly High School** = =

Westerly's first public high school was one of many antebellum projects across the country. The Civil War had ended and people were beginning to refocus on education. The $10,000 proposal for a new school went to the voters, who decided building a school was an extravagance. After several false starts, Westerly's voters finally approved construction of the first free and public high school in Westerly. It was built on Elm Street and dedicated in 1870 (five short years after the Civil War.)

Some of the original courses offered at the Elm Street School included a nature course, a “morals and manners” course, and training in “cooperation” to accommodate the fact that children of all social classes now attended public schools.

Less than thirty years later, the school population outgrew the building and the town agreed to build yet a bigger high school facility on [|Broad and Granite Street]. The [Elm Street] building is one of the oldest buildings in town and has served as Westerly High School, Elm Street Grammar School, and since 1963,the St. Pius X Elementary School. It still stands minus the bell tower and third floor, which were destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938.

The school bell on the Elm Street Schoolwas removed from the roof, and was stored in the school basement where it remained, until the school was deemed obsolete in 1955. In the early 1950s two public grammar schools- at Tower and [|State]Streets - parts of a town school expansion plan were reconstructed and the old school was abandoned. For sentimental reasons, the bell was stored at State Street until St. Pius Church arranged to buy the school from the town for one dollar. Renovations began. The third floor was removed, the first two floors rehabilitated and the building reopened in 1963 as St. Pius X Elementary School. (The Westerly Sun 5/13/2003.) The bell returned to its original home on Elm Street, where it sits on the front lawn and still rings today. Apparently, the old school is again experiencing overpopulation. In December of 2003 the church began a campaign to raise funds for expansion. (The Westerly Sun, 12/7/2002.)

In addition to the 3 R’s, the school offered courses in agriculture (aided by Federal and State funds), chemistry, physics, drama, music, clothing, typewriting and bookkeeping.[1]

According to the 1937 Report of the Senior High School Principal, by principal Charles Mason, the student population increased by 37 students, which he felt that “fortunately, the new building has room to take care of this increase with room to spare.” His report continues, elaborating on the school’s offerings. Many students competed in after school games: 130 girls with an average nightly attendance of 34 and 45 boys playing soccer with an average nightly attendance of 27. The school also had a 45-member football team and a 20 member cross country squad.

Boys were taught shop, mechanical drawing, and vocational agriculture. Each boy conducted a home project in the field of agriculture with 672 hens, 26 ducks, 4 pigs and one cow being cared for by the boys. Girls, on the other hand, were not offered such training. They were offered courses in the “practical study of foods and clothing,” and “learning to do scientifically the many household tasks that confront the housewife.” Girls were also offered a class in Home Making and the “more theoretical aspects of housewifery such as budgeting, dietetics, interior decorating, and home nursing.”

The principal concluded by stating that the increased number of classrooms together with provision of two large study halls made it possible for nearly every student to do his studying undisturbed by recitations.

The following is an excerpt from Westerly High School: The Third Building, with special thanks to [|Mr. Thomas O'Connell] and the [|Westerly Historic Society]for granting its reprint.[2]

School population, instructional methods, and subject matter were pretty well set for a number of years. The war took many citizens away from home for the duration. People made do with what they had. Following World War II, there was [sic] a baby boom. The student population explosion a few years later was the cause of mid 1950’s construction of two new elementary schools (State Street and Tower Street) as well as the rehabilitation of several existing elementary schools. The Immaculate Conception Parish School was also operating at full strength.

Toward the middle of the 1960’s, there was a move afoot to build new, and refurbish old, school buildings. In 1965, “plans and architects’ drawings of the proposed expansion of Westerly schools to include construction of a new building (Dunns Corners School) and additions and alterations to others was placed on display in Westerly shops this week” according to a March 10 article in the [|Westerly Sun.]

Playing a prominent role in the school system’s expansion scheme was the high school building. A new wing was added to the southern (right) side of the Ward Avenue building. Construction included a new chemistry lab, a sloped floor lecture hall, a language lab, a renovated physics lab and science room, seven new classrooms, and two biology labs. The library was moved from the second floor to a larger room on the first floor of the new wing. The guidance office was set up in the old library space. The addition had electric heat installed for students’ comfort. Two large rooms and offices were added behind the auditorium: the band and chorus rooms. The addition, which aesthetically and architecturally maintained Federalist Period-style façade of the original building, was opened in September 1967 at a cost of $445,942. Mr. Gerald M. Dunn was the principal. Three more additions were to follow.

In September 1969, The [|Westerly Sun]ran a front-page story, which declared that Westerly Schools had reached an enrollment peak of 3,795 students. School Superintendent Edward T. Morenzoni declared that in order to meet the increased elementary enrollment, four teachers and four classrooms had been added [sic] At Ward Senior High School, the total number of pupils had risen to 730 from the previous year’s 660. Overall, Morenzoni said Westerly schools had an increase of 232 students over the previous year. It was inevitable that further school building expansion would become a necessity.

Thus, by October 1975, construction bids were being sought by the School Building Committee to add more instructional space to the high school. This newest addition, a modern-style structure was constructed at the Park Avenue end of the building. A practice field yielded way to a 1,500-seat gymnasium containing a regulation-sized basketball court together with teacher offices and student locker rooms. In the space between the new gym and where the 1967 addition left off, a two-story classroom unit housing “two art rooms, two home economics rooms, a wood shop and two craft rooms” was added on the lower floor. (Westerly Sun, July 7, 1975) The second floor sported five new classrooms on the right side of the hall. The school’s heating system was updated at this time, as well. Formerly, steam heat was piped underground (remember how warm home plate always was?) from Babcock to the high school. As this was no longer a viable heat delivery method, a gas-fired boiler room was inserted to the left front of the building. This addition’s funds were derived from the $2.3 million vote for that year’s construction projects. When that addition opened in 1977, Mr. Gerald M. Dunn was the principal.

Fifty years is epochal for a high school building to be in constant use in Westerly. [sic] In June 1988, Westerly voters approved a bond issue referendum whose revenues would, in part, help disabled students to better and more comfortably use the building’s facilities: a three-story elevator, an elevator I the auditorium which would lift the student on stage, and an extension of the handicap ramp on the first floor to lessen its steepness. The auditorium, scene of many kinds of drama, was patched up, painted, and furnished with comfortable upholstered seats. Exterior bricks were repointed. Floor tile was laid and/or replaced. Roof leaks were plugged. Many classrooms had carpeting installed in them. Both the library and the cafeteria were enlarged. The cost of all these improvements was $551,800. This third addition was opened for use in the late fall of 1989.

Even as the 1989 construction projects were being completed at the high school, a problem of another kind was presenting itself. Its solution would ultimately be found in the fourth and final work to be done on the building at the end of the 20th century.

An August 1989 report by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) said that “the high school facilities are inadequate and a ‘major impediment’ in instructional and non-instructional programs.” The report continued by saying that recent renovations would only “begin to address building problems and would not solve a lack of classroom space” (Westerly Sun, September 27, 1989.) The high school’s accreditation had been conditionally extended for another 10 years with a warning to fix up its poor facilities. The warning had the potential of becoming a one-year probation if not resolved by October 31, 1990. Several possible solutions were aired and discussed over the next few years.

In early March 1993, the School Facilities Planning Committee presented a plan recommending that the town build a new $16.5 million high school on farmland in the Dunns Corner area. The figure did not include the requisite land purchase. The idea did not gain wide acceptance. However, expansion plans received a jolt when the NEASC placed Westerly High School’s accreditation on probation for the first time ever. Such action had been held in abeyance from the time that evaluative body had issued the warning in 1989. “NEASC officials are looking for a formal plan to remove the eighth grade from the high school and the development of a comprehensive strategy to mitigate the effects of the inadequate school facilities pending renovation and construction,” said a Westerly Sun article on April 2, 1993.

By April 6, 1993, a committee was preparing a $38 million school renovation plan. The Town Council rejected this plan. Ultimately, Westerly voters approved an $18.3 million construction project plan in 1994, which included the necessary expansion projects at the high school. This time a list of renovations and construction at the high school included the addition of four new classrooms on the left side of the 1977 wing; much interior painting, wiring and plumbing; and the removal of the Guidance Department to the first floor location of the library. The Westerly Integrated Social Services Program (WISSP) was also installed in the former library space; the school administration office was relocated to the front of the building on the first floor; a television studio and control room were established on the second floor; and the 1937 gym was rejuvenated as a fitness center for students, faculty, and evening use by the public for a fee and was named the Dr. John Stellitano Fitness Center after the long-time westerly High School basketball coach; two older rooms were converted into computer labs; and the spacious Library/Media Center was carved out of the area once home to the school administration on the second floor, as well as adding a new 85’ x 54’ floor above the old gym. Most of this work was completed by September 1995. The Kile Library/Media center opened its doors in February 1996. The entire $18.3 million was not spent at the high school. A large portion was used to build a new elementary school, [|Springbrook], to make renovations to other elementary schools, and to add on to Babcock Middle School. The high school did receive an amount to make the needed adjustments as required by the NEASC. Accreditation was restored soon thereafter.

Now at the start of a new century, the Westerly High School is well on its way to becoming a model school in the areas of technology, distance learning, inclusion, and alternative programs. The school should be as comprehensive an institution as possible. The administration, faculty, staff, and students are committed to making this happen as well as maintaining and improving upon the outstanding tradition and excellence in education that has always been associated with [|Westerly High School].

[1]//Adapted from// Best, Mary Agnes. __The Town that Saved a State:__ __Westerly__, The Utter Company, 1943.

[2] reprinted with permission from Rhode Island Historic Society. O’Connell, Thomas A. __Westerly’s Gold. . . Her People,__ //Westerly High School: The Third Building//. Westerly Historic Society: 2003, p. 58-63.