Looking Back on Shawsheen School
History Buzz writer Doug Cooper takes us on a walk down memory lane. Do you recall your Kindergarten years?
This installment of History Buzz was inspired by two of my table mates at 2022’s Spring For History Breakfast.1 I encountered both of them during my early years in the Andover School system and I remember them fondly. One of them was my speech therapist during my Kindergarten year at Shawsheen School in the late 1980s.
In the early 1920s, many residents of Andover saw the need for a school in Shawsheen Village. There was a lot of debate about where the school should be situated. In January of 1922, the Townsman wrote “It is the consensus of the opinion of the parents in the village that it would be unwise to build a school house on a main highway if a suitable location on a side street can be acquired.” Those of us who travel North Main Street and Route 133 can relate.
Enter William M. Wood, the driving force behind Shawsheen Village as we know it today. Click here to read more about William M. Wood and Shawsheen Village in our online exhibit.
On behalf of the American Woolen Company, Wood gave just about 5 acres of land bounded by Corbett Road, Poor Street, Magnolia Avenue, Middle Street, and Allen Street. The land was donated in September of 1922 and, by February of 1923, the plans were ready to be voted on at town meeting.
Wood declined an offer to have the school named after him.
Shawsheen School opened in the fall of 1924 after considerable cost overruns. Some things never change.
Local talent, the Boston-based firm of Ripley and LeBoutillier, designed the building. “Le B” as some Center for History and Culture regulars call him, was an Andover resident who designed the Punchard High School and several houses in Shawsheen. Le B designed the school building in Georgian revival style. As the historic building survey puts it, “The classical details and ornamentation are a visual lesson in symbolism through embellishment.” One example is the cupola-lantern that is symbolic of the lamp to enlightenment. Highly appropriate for a school building. Less obvious are keystones over the doorways that feature bald eagles or owls with Mayflower eyes.
Owls with Mayflower eyes? I did not notice owls with Mayflower eyes in Kindergarten and an internet search yielded everything from owls to Thanksgiving-themed clip art. I’ll keep looking. The school building itself is eye catching.
The photos published in a 1927 issue of American Architect magazine are stunning.2 Photocopies of those photos could be found in the Center for History and Culture’s vertical files. Thanks to the internet archive, I’ve been able to source better-quality images.
Even with a 1956 addition to accommodate the baby boom, Shawsheen School always had a small enrollment that hovered around 300 students. In the fifties, Shawsheen included classes all the way up to the sixth grade. Later on, its focus shifted to early childhood education. During my childhood, Shawsheen hosted pre-school through second grade students.
Shawsheen closed to all-but preschool students at the end of the 2014- 2015 school year. Teachers, parents, and alumnae alike complimented the school’s sense of community. At the time, Shawsheen was a “choice school”, meaning that parents could send their children there rather than the elementary school near their home. A young Shawsheen alum remarked that “Mrs. O’Brien would always say ‘hi’ in the morning and make you feel welcome.” Moira O’Brien was the last school principal.
I remember being at recess (everyone’s favorite subject) during Kindergarten at Shawsheen. And I remember music class, but I do not recall the teacher’s name. A classmate of mine, Pete Edgerly, remembers being scared during his first physical education class and Mister I (the late Arthur Iworsely) was very kind. I remember Mister I as well, but from West Elementary.
Had I been older, I would have learned how to play a flutophone during my Shawsheen career. A flutophone resembles a recorder which, in turn, is the children’s version of a flute. I wondered why they didn’t just call a “recorder” a flute and I wasn’t very good at it. Frank Bleszinski, who was a student at Shawsheen in the fifties, remembers learning how to play the flutophone. His class was able to perform on WCCM (radio, Haverhill, MA).
SHED (which originally stood for “Shawsheen Extended Day”) started as an extended school day program located at Shawsheen school and later moved to the Phillips Academy campus.3 SHED serves the entire public-school system and moved out of Shawsheen school to meet demand. I stumbled across an article in the vertical files describing parents camping out in the Shawsheen parking lot to register their children. The new facility at Phillips Academy promised to put an end to that.
Some History Buzz readers might be aware that the Andover school system is in the midst of several new building and renovation projects. The pre-K program currently offered at Shawsheen school will move to a new building, adjacent to the newly-constructed West Elementary school. I find myself wondering what will happen to a beautiful structure that has been a town landmark for almost a hundred years. Maybe the building will be repurposed? It served as school department offices for a brief time in the eighties.
I searched my own memory bank, scoured the Andover Townie group on Facebook, and talked to my fellow Shawsheen alumnae. The school and the community around it were something special. It’s not that Shawsheen was inherently better than other Andover schools. Shawsheen was unique.
Thanks for reading!
~Doug
Do you have memories of the Shawsheen School? Where did you attend Kindergarten? And did you learn to play the flutophone?
Leave us a comment! We love to hear from History Buzz readers.
Further Reading:
American Architect August 5, 1927 pp. 187- 190 https://archive.org/details/sim_american-architect-and-architecture_1927-08-05_132_2526 (last accessed September 19, 2022)
Andover Historic Building Survey – 18 Ann’s Lane https://preservation.mhl.org/18-anns-lane
Closing Bell: Students, staff bid fond farewell to Beloved Andover School Eagle Tribune June 2015
Overnight Lines For Daycare Registration May Be History Eagle Tribune October 1, 1997
School Site Chosen Andover Townsman September 8, 1922
Shawsheen Elementary: Through the Years Andover Townsman June 24, 2015
West Elementary & Shawsheen Preschool Building Project https://www.aps1.net/2208/WESP (last accessed September 19, 2022).
American Architect August 5, 1927 pp. 187- 190 https://archive.org/details/sim_american-architect-and-architecture_1927-08-05_132_2526 (last accessed September 19, 2022)
You can read the history of SHED by clicking here, https://www.shedchildrenscampus.org/present-in-a-rich-past-the-history-of-shed-childrens-campus/
I do remember getting in line for SHED registration at 4:00 a.m... a year or two before the new building on the Phillips campus.
My daughter, Rebecca Colgate, attended half day Kindergarten there as well as SHED in 1985. She loved it.
I learned the flutophone while at West Elementary. I attended West Elementary Kindergarten the first year it opened in 1952 and it was already too small!