The Peirce School (also known as Old Peirce School) is a historic school building at 88 Chestnut Street, corner of Austin Street, in
West Newton, Massachusetts
West Newton is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States.
Among the oldest of the thirteen Newton villages, the West Newton Village Center is a National Register Historic District. ...
. The brick building was built in 1895 and operated by the
Newton Public Schools
Newton Public Schools is a school district in Newton, Massachusetts, United States. The district features four middle schools that lead into two high schools.
Schools
The Newton Public Schools are organized into an elementary school (K–5), m ...
as an elementary school from 1895 until June 1951. It originally served grades one through eight, but at the time of its closing, it was a kindergarten through sixth grade (K–6) school. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on December 6, 1979.
Origin of name
Peirce School, (originally pronounced as if it were spelled "Purse" but now usually pronounced as if it were spelled "Pierce"), was named for
Cyrus Peirce
Cyrus Peirce (1790–1860), American educator and Unitarian minister, was the founding president of the first American public normal school, which evolved into Framingham State University. , (1790–1860), a
Unitarian minister and educator, who was the first principal (or president) of the first
Normal School
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...
opened in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in
Lexington and served as such from 1839 until 1842 when he retired because of poor health. In 1844 the Normal School was moved to West Newton and located on Washington Street on the site now occupied by the
First Unitarian Society in Newton, which is also on the National Register. Peirce moved to Newton that year and resumed his leadership of the school and served until 1849, when he again retired because of ill health. Peirce lived the rest of his life in West Newton. The Normal School he headed is now
Framingham State College
Framingham State University (Framingham State or FSU) is a public university in Framingham, Massachusetts. It offers undergraduate programs as well as graduate programs, including MBA, MEd, and MS.
History
As the first secretary of the newly ...
, in
Framingham
Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...
, which considers him as its first president. Now Peirce moved to temple street.
Description of building
The Peirce School building was designed by Stickney & Austin, architects, in the style described as ''Colonial Revival'', although today it might be described as ''Late 19th Century Public School''. The exterior was built of granite, brick and sandstone with a slate roof. Although it is numbered 88 Chestnut Street, the building actually faces on Austin Street. The imposing entrance facing Austin Street was largely ceremonial and served as the place for taking class pictures. The plainer entrances at either end of the building were the ones used for ingress and egress.
Present use
The City of Newton assessment rolls show the building as vacant, but recent aerial photos show a paved parking lot with cars parked in it on the south side of the building. The building is called Peirce House and offers subsidized housing for seniors and disabled people.
Newton Seniors – Pierce House (misspelled)
/ref>
New Peirce School
A new, more modern Peirce School was built at 170 Temple Street, corner of Berkeley Street in West Newton and opened in September, 1951 to replace the old Peirce School. Ann L. Caldwell, last principal of the old school, continued as principal of the new school. The new Peirce School is still in operation as a K-5 school.
See also
*
References
External links
Newton Public Schools website
{{coord, 42, 20, 50, N, 71, 13, 26, W, type:landmark, display=title
National Register of Historic Places in Newton, Massachusetts
School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Schools in Newton, Massachusetts