BACK TO SCHOOL!

I think that statement means different things to different people. Most kids hate giving up their summer freedom, but some can’t wait to get back to the classroom (I will admit, I was one of those kids). Most parents are happy to see their kids go back to school for many reasons, and some are sorry to see them go (I will admit, again, I was one of those parents!).

School is so different now than it was in the first days of Little Compton. School was a difficult job for kids and teachers — bringing in the wood, stoking the stove, pumping water from the well of a nearby home, using the outhouse! And teachers didn’t have to prepare for just one grade — some had all eight grades right there in one room! Many students couldn’t come to school during times they were needed at home or on the farm, like haying season, planting season, etc. Even the youngest students were kept home to work.  

In 1698 Nathaniel Searle was elected school master, and he served for the next 12 years. The school was moved about three times. Until 1828 each student paid a portion of his or her school expenses.

In 1722 the custom of moving the school four times became law, and the control of the schools was delegated to the men living in those districts.

The school masters of that time were ordered to teach all children sent to them to “read, wright, sypher, and Latten.”

It seems that Little Compton was a bit ahead of its time, as Susan Brownell was elected on April 3, 1884, as a member of the board of superintendents of schools, the first time in town history that a woman was elected to that position.

Peaked Top School was moved around the community where the largest number of students lived. Some areas were divided into quarters and the teacher moved four times during the year (most teaching was done in private homes). Then one room schools were built, or existing buildings were retrofitted to accommodate a school. There were ten of these in our town: No. 1 was at the corner of Warren’s Point Road and Sakonnet Point Road (Richmond’s Corner); No. 2 was on West Main Road, opposite Taylor’s Lane; No. 3 was on West Main Road, at the north end (nearer to the Tiverton line), No. 4 was on West Main Road, at the north end but nearer to what is now Young Family Farm; No. 5 was the Stone Schoolhouse on Long Highway; No. 6 was on the corner of John Dyer Road and Colebrook Road (on Adamsville Hill, overlooking the village), No. 7 was in Pottersville at Potter’s Corner, No. 8 was at the Commons between the Town Hall and the original Grange building, No. 9 was on Long Highway south (at William Sisson Road), and No. 10 was in the Briggs Beach area. High school was taught in the Town Hall or School No. 8 and limited to three years.

Contrary to the opinion that all schools were painted red (LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE), most of the schools in Little Compton, if painted at all, were painted yellow ochre, because that was the cheapest paint available.

Birth of the Josephine F. Wilbur School

Initially, most students walked to school or rode their ponies. In about 1920 the town started providing transportation to and from school, in a various assortment of vehicles. The first bus remembered by long-time bus driver Lewis Rogers was a Model T. The first bus they had with a heater was in 1937 according to Lewis in “Jonnycakes and Cream,” compiled and edited by Lucy O’Connor. Before that they had curtained sides and no heat! The Town Crier remembers when the school wanted to build the gymnasium, a certain member of the town council, who was very much against the gym, said “Get rid of the buses and let them walk to school. Then they won’t need a gym.”
In 1923, the Rhode Island commissioner of education, Walter E. Ranger, recommended that Little Compton build a consolidated school encompassing all grades in one building. A special committee was elected at the Town Meeting of 1924 to present their findings on this matter. The 1925 Town Meeting found no support for a stroke asking for $100,000 for “building and equipping a modern brick building,” and it was voted down. In 1926 the stroke was cast out of the warrant. In 1927 a committee presented a report on the cost of such a building, and after much heated discussion at the Town Hall, $60,000 was voted to erect a school. Even the area in which the school was to be built was controversial. On the date the first shovel of dirt was to be dug the school received an injunction from a townsperson disputing the town lot on which the school was to be built! The Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court pronounced this injunction without merit and the school could be built in the chosen area!            

“The new building will be of stone, about 113 feet by 91 feet, one story and basement. It will contain eight classrooms, two small recitation rooms, with an auditorium seating about 325. There will be a large supply closet, an office for the superintendent, and a room for the use of the teachers. Provision has been made for a future motion-picture booth. A modern, sanitary toilet system will be provided. The basement will contain the boilers for steam-heating the building, the automatic pump, and some rooms for special use, such as a playroom on rainy days, dental clinic, science room, etc.” 

The new school was named for Josephine Field Wilbur, a much loved and respected teacher at the high school level who had run a private school before the high school was established. She passed away in 1923.

Furnishing the new building became a town project. Just about everyone in town had a hand in providing the finishing touches. Teachers arranged whist parties to pay for stage lighting, and they and various citizens provided the funding for the stage curtain. The Boy and Girl Scout organizations, as well as the Parent Teacher Association, made possible a moving picture machine. The Little Compton Improvement Association donated the radio, and various graduating classes have presented an electric clock, birdbaths, and pictures. The Garden Club donated the shrubbery.

After all was said and done, the years of town meeting arguments and failed strokes in the warrant behind them, the building committee was proud to come in on budget with 85 cents left in the appropriation!

In the 1950’s, a gift from Dr. Henry D. Lloyd provided a modern cafeteria and Home Economics room. Previously Home Economics instruction was held in the Brownell House with an instructor from the University of Rhode Island Extension Service. A gymnasium and open concept middle school were added later.

Sending students out of town

Years later, realizing that Little Compton could not provide the necessary courses demanded of students at the time, the School Committee decided to tuition Little Compton students to Tiverton High School, then Middletown High School, and now Portsmouth High School. The Josephine F. Wilbur School then became a Kindergarten through eighth grade facility.

On April 3, 1929, the following vote was passed at the town meeting.

“Voted that the School Committee be authorized and empowered during the ensuing year to sell such school buildings and the land belonging to the same that are not necessary for school purposes and that the proceeds of such sale or sales be placed in the school fund." All schools except No. 8 on the Commons were abandoned. That building became the home of the American Legion Post 37, then later was used as an addition to the Town Hall.

School house No. 1 was moved up the West Main Road, just south of Swamp Road on the west side, and became Sylvia’s filling station; No. 2 was sold to Henry and Lucia Solomon for $525, No. 3 became a chicken coop, and then part of a house; at No. 4, the land reverted back to the original owner per previous agreement and the building was sold to Hetty Newton for $710; No. 5, the Stone School, was sold to Ambrose Bliss for $70; No. 6 was sold to Benjamin Seabury for $612.40; No. 7, formerly the Pottersville school, was sold to Salem Bshara for $500 and became a residence; the No. 9 school was sold to Raymond Bixby and also became a residence, and the No. 10 school at Briggs Beach burned down.

At the time of consolidation, No.s 4 and 5 schools housed grades one through three; Nos. 6, 7 and 10 housed grades one through six, and No. 8 housed grades 7 and 8.

The school was dedicated, and the Memorial Corner Stone was set on June 17, 1930.

So, as you have read, Little Compton schools have come a long way! In every era, the students came first! That is still true today! We wish all our student friends a fabulous year of learning, we wish all our teacher friends endless patience, and we hope our Little Compton school continues to inspire and nurture each and every person who crosses the threshold.

Learn more about Little Compton's 350th anniversary here.