Union School

History of West Haven, Connecticut (1940)
PDF page 177
Source: https://archive.org/download/historyofwesthav00unse/historyofwesthav00unse.pdf#page=177

EDUCATION 
First mention of a schoolhouse in West Haven is contained in the records 
of the Ecclesiastical Society of the First Congregational Church. In 1742. 
money was raised by the sale of town lands, and it was voted that the amount 
of 328 pounds, 5 shillings, 10 pence be approved for the year for the support of 
the school “until the end of time, unless the government ordered to the contrary”. 
According to the Jurisdiction Records of 1661, a schoolmaster of the period 
was paid a total of 60 pounds per annum, the majority of these payments being 
made as follows: 30 bushels of wheat, 2 barrels of pork, 2 barrels of beef, 40 
bushels of Indian corn, 30 bushels of pease, 2 firkins of butter, 1 (X) pounds of 
ilax, and 30 bushels of general foods. 
As the population of the village increased, additional school facilities were 
needed. In 1805, the Southern District urged the erection of a new school- 
house on the Green, but it was “voated” not to build the proposed school on 
this location. That vote was evidently reconsidered, and the building was auth¬ 
orized, “in any place around the Green within forty feet of the line of the 
squair”. Erected in that same year, the building was still standing on the Green 
in 1857 but was not in use after 1849, when the classes were consolidated with 
those of the Union Avenue School. 
Union School 
For many years prior to 1860, Union School, a two-room wooden structure 
with a graceful belfry and bell, and a noisy chain water pump, stood on the 
plot of land at Union Avenue and Center Stret, where the present brick Union 
School now stands. During the 1880’s, three wooden schools successively stood 
on this site. English, Latin, astronomy, and algebra were among the subjects 
taught; all materials, including text books, were furnished by the students. 
Slates were used instead of paper and pencil. 
For several decades after 1860, summer as well as winter terms were held. 
In 1891, the salary of a teacher, Dealer M. Smith, is recorded as $76 for a 
summer term. The cost of operating Union School for that entire year 
was $392.60. 
Walden sE School 
Another link in West Haven’s early system of education was the little 
Waldense School, at Morgan Lane and Benham Hill, established in the Western 
District in 1829. This typical country school was at first supported by a dozen 
families, each household in turn sharing the responsibility of boarding the 
teacher. Two instructors were annually employed, a female instructor for a 
period of five months, starting with the first of May, and a male teacher for 
four months, starting after Thanksgiving. 

History of West Haven, Connecticut (1940)
PDF page 179
Source: https://archive.org/download/historyofwesthav00unse/historyofwesthav00unse.pdf#page=179

Hi STORY OF WEST HAVEN 
To maintain the Waldense School, in 1829, the Western School District 
levied a tax of nine cents on the dollar, and gave each proprietor the privilege of 
paying one-half the tax in timber and labor; timber was valued at the appraisal 
of the carpenter, and labor at “6 cents an hour when called by the committee for 
the same”. 
The original building was 15^4x30x9 feet. A second Waldense School 
erected several years later was 20x30x12 feet, and covered with pine boards 
at the sides. As protection against the cold winds of winter, there were no win¬ 
dows on the north side of the building. On the other sides were five tiny win¬ 
dows, with 3x5 “lights”; the underpinning was laid in lime mortar. 
A vote of the school district was required to “set up” school for the two 
terms, and parents of each scholar over 4 and under 16 years of age were taxed 
according to the number of days the pupil attended school. The district cus¬ 
tomarily ruled that “No Scholars Shall Be Entitled To Free Money That Are 
Over 16 And Shall Bay Their Tax”. In 1839, the school district voted a teach¬ 
er's salary of $1.75 a week, and estimated the cost of board at $1.25 per week, 
“each one having the privilege to board his part as near as can”. A vote was 
also taken to designate those who should furnish the cord wood for fuel, and 
the price was stipulated at $7.25 per cord for walnut wood, cut to fit the stove. 
The school was governed by a district committee of one member, whose 
duties consisted of general supervision, hiring the teacher, and purchasing the 
fuel. At a school district meeting on March 6, 1871, hesitancy was shown in 
allowing one week’s vacation during the summer term, the vote in favor being 
qualified, “if, and when the committee shall deem it for the interest of the school”. 
The perplexing question at a district meeting on July 14, 1879, was the 
teacher’s irregularity in starting school in the morning; as a result, E. E. Ben- 
ham was named to superintend the commencing of school. Teachers were paid 
$7 per week at that time and sessions were held in summer, fall, and winter. 
As larger quarters were necessary in 1897, the district school committee 
sold the little building to John Lyman, who commandeered 11 pair of oxen to 
move the structure over rough roads to 311 Savin Avenue, where it is now in 
use as a dwelling. During that summer a new school, 30 x 40 feet, was erected. 
Operation of this little district school came to an end in 1920, when the pupils 
were transferred to the Colonial Park School. On August 29, 1925, the school 
building went under the auctioneer’s hammer and was sold to James H. Mills. 
This old school also is now in use as a residence. 
School, Districts 
In 1845, there were four school districts in the town of Orange, and by 1874 
the number had doubled. Of these, three were in West Haven; Union, North¬ 
ern, and Western districts; they functioned as individual districts until consoli¬ 
dated in 1926. Since then, the town schools have been operated as a single dis¬ 
trict. 
64