West Newton English and Classical School, also known as the Allen School, was a model school 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. ...

, United States. It was established in 1854 by Nathaniel Topliff Allen (1823–1903), an educator and protege of

Horace Mann Horace Mann (May 4, 1796August 2, 1859) was an American educational reformer, slavery abolitionist and Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education. In 1848, after public service as Secretary of the Massachusetts St ...

. Allen was an advocate of women's suffrage, temperance, and the abolition of slavery, and his school, unusual at the time, had a racially integrated, co-educational student body. It offered a kindergarten program based upon the principles of Froebel's Kindergarten System, and included gymnastics in its curriculum, both of which were, in America, educational innovations. The school's coursework included reading, spelling, arithmetic, geography, geology, and bookkeeping. Daily journals kept by students were critiqued every two weeks. The school also taught art, music, dancing and ethics. Students attended lectures by guest speakers such as

Theodore Parker Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860) was an American transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. A reformer and abolitionist, his words and popular quotations would later inspire speeches by Abraham Lincol ...

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he foun ...

, and

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...

. Many of Allen's relatives, including his uncles, brothers, cousins, nieces, and three daughters, lived and taught at the school, and provided lodging in their homes for students. Over the course of its 50 years in existence, more than 5,000 students attended the school. Students came from all over the world, and many graduates, both men and women, went on to have careers in medicine, law, government, and education.

Notable alumni

Rebecca Lee Crumpler Rebecca Lee Crumpler, born Rebecca Davis, (February 8, 1831March 9, 1895), was an American physician, nurse and author. After studying at the New England Female Medical College, in 1864 she became the first African-American woman to become a ...

(1831–1895), the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

woman to become a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

in the United States. She received her medical degree in 1864 from the

New England Female Medical College New England Female Medical College (NEFMC), originally Boston Female Medical College, was founded in 1848 by Samuel Gregory and was the first school to train women in the field of medicine. It merged with Boston University to become the Boston Un ...

. * Elizabeth Piper Ensley (1847–1919), educator, suffragette, and activist. * Sarah Fuller (1836–1927), educator of the deaf, who worked with Alexander Graham Bell and Helen Keller. *

Mary Ann Greene Mary Ann Greene (June 14, 1857 – 1936) was a 19th-century American lawyer, writer, and lecturer from Rhode Island. She was the first American woman to be invited to address the World's Congress of Jurisprudence and Law Reform, where she deliver ...

(1857–1936), lawyer. * Henry E. Warren (1872–1957), inventor and businessman. * Joseph Morrill Wells (1853–1890), architect. *

Webster Wells Webster Wells (1851–1916) was an American mathematician known primarily for his authorship of mathematical textbooks. Early life and career Webster Wells was born at Roxbury, Massachusetts on September 4, 1851. His parents, Thomas Foster Well ...

(1851–1916), mathematician, educator, and author.

Notable staff

William Francis Allen William Francis Allen (September 5, 1830December 9, 1889) was an American classical scholar and an editor of the first book of American slave songs, '' Slave Songs of the United States.'' Allen was born in Northborough, Massachusetts in 1830, the ...

, assistant principal in 1856.

References

{{coord, 42, 21, 1, N, 71, 13, 43, W, display=title West Newton Private elementary schools in Massachusetts Private middle schools in Massachusetts Private high schools in Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1854 1854 establishments in Massachusetts