"This Fortunate District": Green School History

Welcome to Green School History, a site devoted entirely to the Green School in Middleborough, Massachusetts. Located on East Main Street in the Green section of Middleborough, the school was built in 1871 and was in continual use until June, 1941, when it was closed. Reopened for a short period of time in the 1990s, the Green School in 2009 was threatened with demolition. A group of concerned residents banded together to save this one-room schoolhouse. Thanks to the interest of the community supported by financial contributions by residents and former pupils, the building has been preserved and the exterior restored. A new use for the structure is currently under consideration. This site hopes to convey the immense historical and educational value which the Green School still retains, particularly its ability to speak to the educational history of the community of Middleborough.

The easiest way to navigate through the site is by using the left-hand sidebar. Click on the icons to read about some of the unique aspects of the Green School's history, to view pictures of the school and documents related to its history, or to make a contribution towards its preservation. Also, for a quick reference, you can also click on the chapters underneath each icon to go directly to a topic of interest.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Promotions

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As the purpose of the primary and elementary schools was considered fitting the pupil for high school, qualifications for attending high school were established. In 1874, Green School students wishing to further their education at Middleborough High School were expected to complete a satisfactory examination in reading, spelling and writing; to complete Common School Written Arithmetic; to complete Greene’s Introduction [to grammar] and to display an “ability to parse and analyze ordinary prose”; and to complete Warren’s Common School Geography and United States History.

Relative to promotions, Green School pupils in the first eight levels would be promoted on the basis of “estimates indicating the teacher’s best judgement of the fidelity and success with which the pupils have done assigned work, and their success in oral and writing tests that have been used as an element of teaching, and the answers to which have not been valued numerically.” Final examinations were dispensed with until the 9th grade as they “do not always determine who is prepared to do successfully the work of the next grade. Frequently they do not test genuine work and power.” Promotions were based upon the yearly average of weekly grades, with students averaging Excellent, Good and Fair being promoted.

While the one-room schoolhouse was generally considered a less effective and more chaotic institution than the graded school, it did have the advantage of encouraging advanced students who unlike their counterparts in graded schools elsewhere were exposed to lessons presented to higher level students. As one local resident described it, “A child who was anxious to learn would ‘listen in’ and often have a wider knowledge than the city students.” Such gifted students were therefore able to acquire a deeper knowledge in their studies and sometimes advance at a more rapid pace. The Middleborough School Committee obliquely recognized this phenomenon when it emphasized that students of special ability could be promoted regardless of age or length of time in a specific level.

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