The landscape of Fairfield's public school system has changed dramatically since 1976. We know that Fairfield's two high schools --- Andrew Warde and Roger Ludlowe --- consolidated into Fairfield High School at the Warde campus over 20 years ago. Due to an increase in student population, the Ludlowe site was reopened in 2004, and the Board of Education renamed the schools Fairfield Warde and Fairfield Ludlowe high schools.
Are you a product of Fairfield's public school system? If so, the chances are very good that you attended Fairfield Woods Junior High School before moving into Andrew Warde. As for elementary school, I grew up in the Lake Hills section of Fairfield, well before Jennings School opened in 1967. As a result, I attended kindergarten at Osborn Hill School in 1963-64. Four years later, our neighborhood was redistricted from Osborn Hill, literally "up the street," into Jennings when that school opened on Palm Drive in September of 1967. Jennings is adjacent to Fairfield Woods, and the elementary students graduated into the junior high school next door.
According to Barbara Bryan, a volunteer with the Fairfield Historical Society, there were 12 elementary schools, two junior high schools, and two high schools in Fairfield in 1976. Grasmere and Oldfield elementary schools no longer exist. The elementary schools included Dwight (456 students), Grasmere (397), Holland Hill (465), Jennings (473), McKinley (532), Mill Hill (327), North Stratfield (465), Oldfield (427), Osborn Hill (478), Riverfield (433), Sherman (404), and Stratfield (426). The total elementary school population was 5,283 students. The figures are courtesy of the annual town report for 1975-76.
Thirty-two years ago there were only two public junior high schools in town. Junior high schools were comprised of seventh- and eighth-grades. Fairfield Woods (869 students) fed into Warde, while Tomlinson's students (905) graduated into Ludlowe. There were a total of 1,774 junior high students in town. It wasn't until 1984, according to the Fairfield Historical Society, that the junior high schools became middle schools and included sixth-grade.
Andrew Warde and Roger Ludlowe high schools had a roughly the same number of students during our senior year at Warde. "The high school enrollments were very similar (in 1975-76)," said Bryan, who obtained the official figures from the town report. Nearly 4,000 students attended public high school in Fairfield in 1975-76. Andrew Warde High School's population was 1,994, while Roger Ludlowe High School had 1,951 students for a total of 3,945 pupils.
The changes at the elementary level since 1976 are the most striking. Thirty-two years ago elementary schools included grades K through six. Now, "Moving Up" ceremonies are held at the conclusion of fifth-grade. There are currently 11 public elementary schools in Fairfield, including the new $25 million Burr School located north of the Merritt Parkway. It is the town's crown jewel.
The sparkling new McKinley School, built when the original building was demolished due to mold and age, is an example of modern architecture in the Tunxis Hill section of town. Osborn Hill, which opened in 1957, then closed in the mid 1980s, was reopened in 1997 and is the largest elementary school in town on Stillson Road. Mill Hill School in Southport also reopened several years ago.
A third middle school --- Roger Ludlowe Middle School --- opened in 1998 for sixth- and seventh-graders at the former Ludlowe High School site. The eighth grade was added the following year. It is the largest of the town's middle schools, housing well over 800 students. Warde graduate Glenn Mackno is the principal of the school, which re-opened in a sparkling new building adjacent to Ludlowe High in 2003.
Students from Stratfield, McKinley, Osborn Hill, and Riverfield elementary schools graduate into Ludlowe Middle School. The children who attended Stratfield and McKinley schools ultimately wind up at Warde, while the students who were products of Osborn Hill and Riverfield move next door into Ludlowe High School. As a result, half the graduates of Ludlowe Middle School attend Warde while the other half attend Ludlowe, located on the same campus!
Graduates of Jennings, North Stratfield, and the newly-opened Burr elementary schools attend Fairfield Woods, while students who attended Dwight, Mill Hill, Sherman, and Holland Hill graduate into Tomlinson Middle School.
Bryan and Dennis Barrow, the Fairfield Historical Society's librarian, welcome you to their facility to review the records and the town's annual report from 32 years ago. The report also includes illustrations and photographs, too.
As you can see, Fairfield's public school system has changed dramatically over the last 30 years. Two high schools became one and then two again. Two junior high schools are now three middle schools. And, two sparkling new elementary schools have been added to the mix.
I'd like to know about your elementary and junior high school experience. You're more than welcome to post comments at the end of each blog entry.
Paul
Please sign the AWHS Guest Book.
Visit the Andrew Warde High School Gift Shop.
Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film."
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