Elm+Street

= = = = =Welcome to the History of Westerly High School = =at Elm Street ... = ||
 * [[image:HS_ElmStreet.jpg width="240" height="329" align="left"]]
 *  Westerly's first public high school was one of many antebellum projects across the country. The Civil War had ended and people were now free to refocus on education. There was a $10,000 proposal for a new school, which 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 freehand 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.   After the hurricane, the school bell was stored in the school basement where it remained until 1955, when it was determined the town would no longer use the school. Two new grammar schools had been built in the early 1950s: Tower and State Streets. Accordingly, the old school on Elm Street 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) 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)  ||   ||
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