Norwalk After Two Hundred & Fifty Years

number. In a newspaper announcement in February, 1844, appear the names of Algernon E. Beard, Charles Mallory and Thomas C. Hanford as the governing board at that time. The building erected was a one-story structure with a cupola, after the common academy architecture of the period, and stood on West avenue, nearly opposite the site of the Methodist Episcopal church in South Nor walk. At first designed for boys, girls were afterwards admitted to the school. One of the earlier principals was Mr. Storrs Hall, brother of Dr. Edward Hall, who made a compilation of the early records of Norwalk. In 1844 James H. Coffin came from a tutorship in Williams College to become the head of the new academy. Under his management and that of his brother and successor, Robert Coffin, the academy gained great repute and drew students from the sur- rounding towns. The service of Prof. James H. Coffin is a verv notable part of the educational history of the town. He was called from his duties here to a profes- sorship in Lafayette College, where he gained a national and European reputation by his teaching ability and his works on meteorology and mathematics. His series of text books in mathematics were used for a long time in the leading colleges. The academy continued its hon- orable and useful career until the early fifties, when im- orovements in the public school system rendered its existence no longer necessary. Hart's report in the Connecticut Common School Journal on the schools of Norwalk was part of a move- ment to improve the common schools of the state. The need of reform was very graphically shown and the work of bettering educational conditions was carried on with unfailing intelligence and persistence. In the educa- tional history of the period looms up the great figure of Henry Barnard, who ranks with Horace Mann as one of the two foremost of American educators. In 1837 the state created a Board of Commissioners of Common Schools Mr. Barnard was chosen secretary of this board, which in effect made him state superintendent of common schools. Thorough state and local supervision took the place of the chaos that had preceded. The im- press of Mr. Barnard's work is to be seen in the public school system of to-day. From 1838, the date of Mr. Hart's report, to 1853, we find an increase in the school population of Norwalk. The enumeration by districts as it appears in the state report of 1853, is as follows: 218 Flax Hill Old Well North West Down Town North Center Union North East Total 71 253 40 117 125 563 47 1,216 Closely following the date of this report are to be noted two events which mark a distinct improvement in the public schools of the town since the time when Mr. Barnard's agent held them up to such severe cen- sure. One is a piece of special legislation enacted in 1854 authorizing the Union School District of Norwalk to rix a rate of tuition for the study of the French, Latin and Greek languages. The Union District was at that lime very much the largest school district in town, con- taining nearlv half the school population. The other event was the consolidation, in 1854, of the Old Well and Flax Hill districts into the South Norwalk Union School District. In the new school which was the re- sult of this union the study of the higher branches was at once taken up. Under these circumstances the Nor- walk Academy, which had done effective service in the cause of the higher education, was discontinued, and its work was carried on in the schools of the two larger dis- tricts. Two years later, in 1856, an important general state law was enacted which abolished all school societies and gave back to the towns their control over the schools. In this way jurisdiction over the several districts of the First School Society passed to the town of Norwalk. In addition to these districts, the town assumed control of the South, Middle and North Five Mile River districts, which had formed part of the Darien School Society. Nine districts were thus placed under the control of the town in 1856. Their names and the enumeration in each district are given in the state report of that year as follows: Union . South Union Down Town North Center North East 625 433 125 77 45 219 North West ..... 41 North Five Mile River ... 58 Middle Five Mile River ... 63 South Five Mile River ... 66 Total ..... i,533 In i860 the Broad River district was formed, com- prising territory formerly a part of the Union district. The Center district was formed in the following year. In each of the districts just named a new schoolhouse was built. These eleven districts, as far as their boun- daries are concerned, were very much as we know them at the present time. A twelfth district, whose existence even is known to very few, claims a passing reference. In 1859, by special act of legislature, Norwalk, or Shef- field Island was constituted a separate school district "with all the privileges and immunities belonging to the other school districts of this state," and apparently is still a legal part of the district system of the town. As the legislative acts at the close of the eighteenth centurv in taking away the powers of the towns over schools had had a depressing effect, so the restoration of those powers after the lapse of a little more than fifty years wrought a change for the better. The town as an educational unit has shown its superiority over the parish or school society. The schools have become more a matter of public concern and local pride. In the last forty years they have grown with the growth of the town. New schoolhouses have been built and old ones enlarged and remodelled. In all these changes and additions there has been a notable advance in school architecture,, in school furnishings and school surroundings. The comfort, health and general well-being of the pupils have received more and more consideration in the location, planning, construction and equipment of school buildings. The details of this progress will be found in the sketches of the different districts, but a reference, at least, to the general fact seemed called for in this place. An institution which has been a very important edu- cational factor in the town for the past twenty years is St. Mary's Parochial School which was established in 1880. The present principal is Rev. W. Kiernan, and his predecessors were Revs. J. Russell, H. Treanor, T Crowley, T. O'Brien, J. Duggan, J. Sullivan, M. Barry and J. Loftus. Ten teachers are employed and five hun- 880 dred pupils are connected with the school. The courses of study range from the kindergarten to the high school course.' Drawing and vocal music are taught and a commercial course is given in the last year. "This school has sent forth into the world hundreds of young men and women who are devoted children of the Church and loyal citizens of the State." No sketch of the educational history of the town should omit to mention the private schools of the latter part of the century. We have already seen how im- portant they were at an earlier period. With the great improvement in the public schools, private elementary instruction is no longer given to any extent. There has always remained, however, a number of excellent private schools engaged for the most part in the work of higher education. Among these the first place must be given to the Selleck School for Boys, established in 1855 by Rev. C. M. Selleck, the historian of Norwalk. The school began with about twenty scholars in a small building erected for the purpose. This was soon out- grown, and successive additions were made to the original building as the school increased in numbers. The school was almost exclusively a boarding institution and for several years averaged nearly one hundred boarding pupils. Its patronage came from all sections of the country and even from abroad. For many years the work was carried on by the principal and six assist- ants, and the courses covered the usual studies pursued in such institutions. Boys were fitted for Yale, Har- vard and Princeton and also for West Point and the United States Naval Academy. A commercial depart- ment was a prominent feature in the courses of study. The school enjoyed a wide reputation and was success- fully conducted by Mr. Selleck until 1889, a period of thirty-four years. A very appreciative and complimen- tary notice of this school by Dr. Edward I. Sears ap- peared in the National Quarterly Review for March. 1875. Dr. Sears' closing words are: "We cannot, there- fore, conclude these hurried observations more appro- priately than by applying to Mr. Selleck's school the line of Plantus: 'Sat habet favitorum semper, qui recte facit.' " After Mr. Selleck severed his connection with the school it was conducted on somewhat different lines by 221 Col. Roberts and known as the Norwalk Military Insti- tute. As the Norwalk University School it is now under the management of Mr. William G. Chase, a thoroughly modern boarding and day school for boys, with two col- lege preparatory and two finishing courses. Mr. Chase took charge of the school in 1897. Three assistants are associated with him in the work of instruction and thirty- two pupils are in attendance. Although not a military school, the boys are fully uniformed and equipped and thoroughly drilled in military exercises. Mention should also be made of the school for boys conducted by Dr. Jabez C. Fitch in the building now occupied by Mrs. Mead's seminary for girls and young ladies. This school flourished for a number of years and had a high reputation. Prof. Alexander Johnston was for several years, and until 1883, principal of the Norwalk Latin School in the building now itsed as the Grace Church rectory. Prof. Johnston was at that time well known as the author of a history of American Politics and as one of the principal contributors to Labor's Cyclopaedia of Politi- cal Science, Political Economy and United States His- tory. Prof. Johnston was called from this school to a professorship in Princeton University, where he gained a national and European reputation by his scholarly and brilliant historical writing.