The Shawsheen School, part 2
In continuing with the theme of opening and closing of Shawsheen School, in 2024 the building will close as a school once again.
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Today we will be sharing Part 2 of the History Shawsheen School. More than 50 people commented on Part 1 and shared their memories of the school. These shared memories make history interesting and sparks interest in the topic. I want to share just a few of those memories.
MaryEllen & Deborah met at Shawsheen School and 50 years later they are still BFs. I am sure that is true of many people who went to other schools. I have a BFF from first grade at West Elementary.
Susan remembers that her colonial clay pipe went missing after show and tell. She is certain that her teacher took it.
David remembers skinning his knee on the playground and then years later teaching youth baseball on the same playground.
Jane’s family has a long history of memories from the Richardson School and the Shawsheen School. From building neighborhoods and naming streets near the school after family members. Another family memory is of William Wood handing out mittens to the children.
Many people remarked about the beauty of the building.
I hope you all enjoy Part 2 of Shawsheen School.
Barbara
The Shawsheen School, part 2
Due to declining enrollment in 1981 the school closed, and the school department moved their offices from the old Stowe School, which was being demolished to make room for the new construction at the Doherty School, into the Shawsheen School.
Other groups also used the building. The school had two dining rooms for senior citizens in the basement next to the kitchen, a storage room for the town’s Civil Defense equipment, as well as the Community Services Department’s offices. Renovations were kept to a minimum because it was hoped that it would be used as a school again in the future.
Superintendent Dr. Ken Siefert told the Andover Townsman in 1981, “It would be a shame never to use this a school building again.”
Just a few years later Shawsheen would reopen as a school once again when school administration offices moved to the former East Junior High School in early 1984.
Image from Andover Preschool Program Brochure
The Shawsheen School was renovated once again and reopened in 1985 as an early childhood center. There were seven preschool classes, four kindergartens, three first grades and three second grades. This configuration of classes closed in the spring of 2015.
Shawsheen Extended Day (SHED)
Another part of Shawsheen School’s history is the role of the portable classrooms that were installed in 1989. SHED, Shawsheen Extended Day, used the building for their programming. SHED had previously used the Shawsheen School when it wasn’t being used as a school. However, when the population grew and Shawsheen was reopened the portable buildings became the home for SHED.
In August of 2015 the portable classrooms were demolished after being used either by the SHED program and the last few years as a pre-Kindergarten program for the town.
The young children in the portable classrooms moved into the basement and the first floor of the Shawsheen School. It became an integrated preschool. The model for this school is the integration of children with different abilities in a challenging, safe, and progressive environment.
The future of the Shawsheen School
In continuing with the theme of opening and closing of Shawsheen School, in 2024 the building will close as a school once again. The preschool will now be part of the new West Elementary building on Beacon Street and is slated to open in 2025. Soon educators and students will be enjoying a sparkling new school.
The school will be closed, but what about this stately building? According to the Andover Public School webpage regarding the West Elementary/Shawsheen Project FAQs section that question was asked and here is the response:
Ownership and management of the aging Shawsheen building, and site will revert to the Town of Andover. The school’s long history has contributed to the building’s being viewed as a beloved town building and landmark. An architect for historic properties concluded that the building is sound and could be repurposed. Possible suggested uses include senior housing, offices, small condos, town document storage or other community purposes.
The question of what will happen to the Shawsheen School was asked to a member of the Preservation Commission. Here is the response:
The Shawsheen School is in the National Historic Register District which only protects it via the Demolition Delay By-law of up to one year. Anything planned for the building would have to go to the Preservation Commission for review and would be placed in a demolition delay for one year. After a year it could be torn down. The commission and hopefully the town will push for some kind of rehab of the building.
If walls could talk
For 100 years educators, students, and parents have walked the halls of this majestic building. If walls, both inside and out, could talk imagine the stories that could be told and the memories they hold.
When Shawsheen School closed in 2015 the students were given a chance to say their good-byes in a letter. Here are just a few of their comments published in the Andover Townsman:
Thank you so much for the teachers, kids, books and most of all, friendships, I will never forget you! -Grace
Thank you for the teachers. Thank you for the classes. You are awesome! -Will
Thanks for taking amazing care of us and helping us learn. I will miss Shawsheen very much. You will always be my favorite school. This school will be very memorable. -Gavinn
Author’s note: I was a teacher at Shawsheen school from 1973-1981. During that time Miss Isabelle Dobbie was the principal. She was also my principal when I was a student at West Elementary School. You can imagine how hard it was to call her by her first name when I worked for her at Shawsheen School!!!
Thanks for reading! Do you have a memory or picture of Shawsheen School that you would like to share? Or did you ever work with a former teacher and have to retrain yourself to use their first name?
~Barbara
Sources:
Files at Andover Center for History and Culture
Andover Historic Preservation
Andover Townsman June 24, 2015
Andover Townsman August 20, 2015
Andover Townsman September 3, 1981
The teacher in the first pre-school photo is Mary K. Hervol, a good friend of mine for many years.
Sadly she passed away last year. I believe the gentleman in the photo with Miss Dobbie is Red O'Hagan, the custodian at the school. I thought the other woman was Rita Cronin. sister to Eunice Stack and a 3rd grade teacher.
I hope the building has a viable future. Plans and comments are just that.