Fairfield Board of Education 'Dishonored' the Names & Historical Significance of Andrew Warde and Roger Ludlowe & Alumni of Both Schools

I need to vent. After hearing from Lisa Grant, a direct descendant of Andrew Warde, and Tony Tylutki, a 1973 graduate of Andrew Warde High School, it's time I got something off my chest.

The Fairfield Board of Education made a tremendous mistake by not naming both public high schools in honor of Andrew Warde and Roger Ludlowe when it decided to reopen a second high school at the Ludlowe site on Unquowa Road in 2004. It was a slap in the face to two of Fairfield's most historic figures and generations of graduates from both schools.

I was a Board of Education representative on the Roger Ludlowe Middle School PTA executive board when my son attended sixth-grade, and it didn't take long to realize that more often than not the board will screw up any issue which needs to be resolved.

Redistricting? Leave it to the board to cave in to the parents and change the boundaries time and time again just to placate a few zealous parents. School names? Naturally, the board acquiesced to a handful of "newbies" who wanted "equality" in town. The "esteemed" members originally voted in favor of naming the high schools Fairfield East and Fairfield South five years ago. After an outrage from longtime residents, the board voted to change the names again!

"Too bad the town didn't revert back to the old school names like (the) Andrew Warde High School Crimson Eagles," wrote Tylutki in the Guest Book. "Fairfield Warde and Fairfield Ludlowe sound terrible, and (the new name) is a dishonor to the names of Andrew Warde and Roger Ludlowe."

I couldn't agree more. After reading about the life of Andrew Warde, courtesy of the painstaking research of descendent Lisa Grant, the Board of Education blew it. How many of today's high school students have any idea that their schools --- Fairfield Warde and Fairfield Ludlowe --- are named after two of Fairfield's most illustrious and historic figures?

I was the public address announcer at the Fairfield Warde girls' lacrosse home games and senior night for the boys' lacrosse team this Spring, and I can't tell you how insulted I was when I referred to the school as 'Fairfield Warde.' It seemed ridiculous. Fairfield Warde? No, you don't understand. This is Andrew Warde High School!

The Board of Education had a golden opportunity to celebrate the rich histories of Andrew Warde and Roger Ludlowe high schools by reverting to the original names when a second high school reopened in 2004. They didn't do it. That is an insult to all of the graduates of Andrew Warde and Roger Ludlowe and, more important, the legacy of both men, too.

Shame on the Fairfield Board of Education.

Paul

Please sign the AWHS Guest Book.

Visit the Andrew Warde High School Gift Shop.

Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film".