Voting stockbridge ma
Williams High School was a public high school located in the town of Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. Its history evolved from the town's earliest schools founded before and shortly after the American Revolutionary War. In April the school closed, when its students transferred to a new regional high school located in the town of Great Barrington. The first school in Stockbridge was erected in under the supervision of John Sergeant , a missionary to the local Mohican Indians. It served as a school for the Christian education of Indian children. Through the pre-Revolutionary War years several small schools were opened to serve the children of newly arriving settlers scattered between the distant boundaries of adjoining towns.
Williams High School (Stockbridge, Massachusetts)
Williams High School was a public high school located in the town of Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts.
Its history evolved from the town's earliest schools founded before and shortly after the American Revolutionary War. In April the school closed, when its students transferred to a new regional high school located in the town of Great Barrington.
The first school in Stockbridge was erected in under the supervision of John Sergeant , a missionary to the local Mohican Indians. It served as a school for the Christian education of Indian children.
Through the pre-Revolutionary War years several small schools were opened to serve the children of newly arriving settlers scattered between the distant boundaries of adjoining towns. Three of the four students in the first graduating class of Williams College in were alumni of the Academy.
The school's reputation attracted students from outside the area who boarded with local families. In the early and mids Stockbridge schools earned the distinction of educating three Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States who served on the high court at the same time.
Williams was born on March 22, in Groton, Connecticut. His parents were Daniel and Esther Avery Williams. He was married first to Fannie West and then to Sarah Huntington.
Williams died on October An inscription on a panel in the school building reads, In permanent gratitude to Cyrus Williams, a discerning citizen of this town, who, appreciated that knowledge is the only safeguard of free institutions, gave enduring reality to this belief by the endowment of our first public school.
As public primary schools were built in Glendale in and Curtisville Interlaken in , the Williams Academy continued its transition to full public status, and by the s was known as the Williams Academy and Stockbridge High School. With the opening of a new building in April , the name was changed to Williams High School. The evolution of schools in Stockbridge, from its first missionary school through various private and semi-private academies to a full public school system, paralleled the development of civic structures at the state and local levels over several hundred years.
The school's curriculum had three tracks, business, college preparatory and agriculture. In addition to traditional business and college preparatory classes, there was a strong Future Farmers of America FFA chapter that attracted students from outside the district.
The FFA program involved a curriculum centered around farming and animal husbandry. There was a chapter of the National Honor Society. There had also been a School Orchestra and a Rifle Club. There was a student council and each class elected officers. Representatives from the student body traveled to the state capitol in Boston and participated in the annual Boys and Girls State program.
Student groups worked on the Chieftain newspaper and Konkapot yearbook. The Konkapot was named in honor of Chief Konkapot, a leader of the local Mohican Indians in the early and mids. School colors were green and gold. Early in its history Stockbridge was sometimes referred to as 'Indian Town'. Boys varsity sports included soccer, basketball, skiing, baseball, cross country and golf. Girls sports included basketball and field hockey. Also, there was a cheerleading team.
The school's arch rival was Searles High School in Great Barrington, with other important rivalries involving high schools in the towns of Lenox and Lee. A statewide emphasis on school regionalization, begun in the early s, was designed to create economies of scale for rural communities faced with increasing costs of maintaining their own schools.
For several years the idea was very contentious in all the communities. Votes in and could not find consensus on consolidation. In January , Lenox and West Stockbridge voters approved a plan that failed in Stockbridge by three votes. In September Stockbridge voters overwhelming decided, by a to 55 majority, to build a new facility for Williams High School. A site was chosen in fields below the Naumkeag estate north of the town center on land controlled by The Trustees of Reservations.
The town successfully challenged opposition by the Trustees in the Massachusetts Supreme Court. However, efforts to maintain a high school in Stockbridge ended when the state refused to provide the necessary funds to support the effort. After Lenox and Lee finally chose not to regionalize and maintain their own schools, Stockbridge, West Stockbridge and Great Barrington went to the polls again and approved a plan to enter into a consolidated Berkshire Hills Regional School District.
Planning began for their primary and secondary schools to be located on adjoining campuses in Great Barrington. The district offices would be located in Stockbridge.
The regionalization agreement united longtime rivals Williams High School and Searles High School into one student body. For the first time in nearly two and a half centuries, since John Sergeant founded an Indian mission school in , the children of Stockbridge would not be attending school in their own community. The last class to graduate from Williams High School was in June The graduation ceremony was held at Tanglewood , as had many of the school's graduation ceremonies over the years.
The school did not actually close until April , when the senior and junior classes moved to the newly completed Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington. O'Connor, the last principal to lead Williams High School. Pressure from the state, economies of scale for rural districts and fluctuating student populations had forced the closure of its high school, an outcome Stockbridge resisted for over a decade. The three story brick school building opened in and located at 50 Main Street had been shared by Williams High School and the town's primary school known as 'Stockbridge Plain School'.
Over the next fifty years several additions were made to the structure. This would be the final home for both schools.
Following their closure, the building was remodeled and opened in as the Stockbridge town offices. Additionally, the building provides space for the police department, regional school district administration and a community gymnasium. Oh fling out old Williams banner, flash its green upon the breeze, let its gold gleam in the sunshine, high above the smiling trees. So let the green then wave in triumph, let the gold flash in the sun, as a bold and brave defiance, that her loyal sons are one.
Thomas Malumphy, Class of [16]. School alumni hold an all class reunion every September, publish an annual newsletter and maintain a scholarship fund for students from Stockbridge and West Stockbridge.. Access is available on request. The Williams High School Directory, is a school history, listing of graduates, faculty and administration and collection of photographs. The Directory provides an account of the village's schools from through A comprehensive listing identifies graduates, faculty and administrators from through Thirty-three photographs and images are included.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Public secondary school in Stockbridge, Massachusetts , U. Williams High School occupied the second and third floors of the school building now serving as the Town Offices. Massachusetts Supreme Court Justices, anb. Retrieved September 5, Retrieved September 7, Retrieved May 13, Hidden categories: Articles with short description Coordinates on Wikidata. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Languages Add links. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Stockbridge MA. The town operates its own police, fire and public works departments, with two fire stations and two post offices. The town's. Where to Vote:Voting takes place in West Stockbridge Town Hall, located at:West Stockbridge Town Hall & Offices21 State Line RoadWest Stockbridge, MA.
The measure will allow the town to raise the tax levy enough to address building improvements to the former Housatonic School, Housatonic fire station, police station and Town Hall. Monday, 13 May - Mitsoff is an independent financial consultant who moved to Sheffield 11 years ago. Tuesday, 15 May - "I'm thrilled. It was wonderful day as far as I'm concerned, and a wonderful race.