Fairfield Warde High School Must Acknowledge Its Past

Whatever happened to Andrew Warde High School? My younger son is a freshman at Warde, and each afternoon when I pick him up from school, I see two prominent monuments near the front entrance acknowledging the proud history of the school. The monuments pay tribute to Fairfield High School and Fairfield Warde High School.  The only problem is that there isn't any reference to Andrew Warde High School. It actually existed from 1956 to 1987. Don't you remember?

Once Andrew Warde High School consolidated with Roger Ludlowe High School into Fairfield High School at the Warde site in the Autumn of 1987, thirty years of memories were all but forgotten. Nearly two decades later, however, due to an exploding student population in town, the Fairfield Board of Education decided to reopen the former Roger Ludlowe High School and return to two public high schools in 2004.

The schools were named Fairfield Warde and Fairfield Ludlowe high schools in an attempt to unify the secondary student population, while at the same time offering a less-than-sincere cursory nod to the original names of the two high schools. The board never got it right in the first place, originally opting to name the schools Fairfield East and Fairfield West before yielding to public pressure, especially from alumni of the two high schools.

The childish antics of the board, students, and parents could have been avoided if the original names of the schools were returned. This corner has never fully embraced the new names of the schools, preferring instead to refer to them as Warde and Ludlowe. What is most troublesome, though, is the fact that there isn't any acknowledgement of the original Andrew Warde High School by the front entrance.

It's a different story at Ludlowe High School. I was the public address announce at each of the Falcons' football home games this season. Upon entering the main lobby of the high school, there are several engraved plaques acknowledging the building as former home to Mill Plain School, Roger Ludlowe High School, Roger Ludlowe Middle School, and the current FLHS. In fact, an original school bell from Mill Plain School adorns the front lobby for all to see.

It's about time to pay tribute to Andrew Warde High School. Shouldn't there be a monument alongside the two which sit at the front of the high school? I think so. I am going to write to the Fairfield Board of Education and request that a third monument be placed alongside the others. Andrew Warde High School existed from 1956 through 1987. I should know. I graduated from AWHS! There are many proud graduates who will always call themselves Crimson Eagles.

What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment below. Let's get a monument in honor of the original Andrew Warde High School.

Paul