From one-room schoolhouses in the 1700s to today’s high-tech elementary, middle, and high schools, academies, institutes and universities, educational opportunities to its citizens, including children, adults, and immigrants. From one-room schoolhouses in the 1700s to today’s high-tech elementary, middle, and high schools, academies, institutes and universities, the city continues to expand and improve scholastic resources. At the intersection of Main and Highland Streets, stands a historic marker where the first schoolhouse was located, a school where John Adams, second president of the United States, taught (1755-58). As a part of the Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts, Worcester is today considered to be a center of higher education.
Education initially focused on religion, family, and community. Learning concentrated on a technical trade or the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, and many thought there was little or no need for schooling after the age of twelve. Children were put to work in factories or mills to help provide for their families. For those who had the chance to attend school, classes were often focused on basics or practical skills, mostly preparing students to transition into their expected gender roles. And one would go on to college mainly to become a minister, lawyer, or teacher.
The first notable “secondary” or high school, founded in 1752, was the Latin Grammar School, established “for the instruction of languages.” Located on the corner of Main and Mechanic Streets, the school taught mostly Latin and Greek. By 1789 a new school, known as the Centre School House, was built on the west side of Main Street. Around 1836 a new Latin School for Boys (including grammar and high school) opened on Thomas Street under the title of “Classical and Grammar School” and remained open until 1845.
The “Girls English Highschool” was founded in 1824; its sole purpose was to prepare girls to become teachers. In 1844 at a town meeting a resolution was passed to open the “Classical and English High School;” the first school to teach boys and girls would accommodate 75 boys and 100 girls. By 1890-1900 in a building of 14 rooms, enrollment had increased by 350 percent, now educating upwards of 1,650 students. There was an obvious need to build more schools, not just another new one. Enrollment in four schools by 1920 reached nearly 4,000. Boys Trade School (1910) and Girls Trade School (1911) primarily educated students who were not able to attend high school. To accommodate the influx of people from Europe, Worcester created night school for immigrant children and adults.
The Worcester County Manual Labor High School, later named Worcester Academy in 1847, is one of the nation’s oldest elite day- boarding preparatory schools and was established in 1834. The school was all-male until 1856 and again from 1890-1974, when it became coeducational and has remained so since. It was previously known as Dale General Hospital and treated soldiers injured during the Civil War.
The College of the Holy Cross, established in 1843 by the Jesuits (Bishop Fenwick), is the oldest Roman Catholic college in New England and third oldest in the country. In 1849, Eli Thayer, a graduate of Worcester Academy and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1857 to 1861, founded The Oread Institute, one of the oldest institutes of higher education for women in the country; the school remained in existence until 1934.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the third oldest private engineering college in the nation, was founded in 1865, primarily to design and deliver innovative science and technology curricula. Worcester State University, founded to train teachers, opened in 1874. In 1887, Clark University opened with departments in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology. It is the oldest graduate institution in the United States and a founding member of the American Association of Universities.
In the 1900’s other colleges were established: Assumption University (1904), Quinsigamond Community College (1963), and the UMass Medical School (1970), now known as UMass Chan Medical School. First established in Boston in 1823, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences opened its Worcester campus in 2000 and has already expanded significantly.
Today, there is certainly no shortage of educational opportunities in Worcester. From pre-K through college and beyond, education in Worcester remains one of its largest and most meaningful industries. Prospective students will find a variety of educational institutions and programs offered by the most respected college preparatory, undergraduate, and graduate schools in the country. Worcester is among the top 100 diverse communities in the United States, welcoming many different cultures from which we are very fortunate to learn.