Wayland High School

Wayland High School is a public high school in Wayland, Massachusetts. U.S. Its principal is Mrs. Allyson Mizoguchi. As of the 2014–2015 school year, there are 850 students, under its designed operating capacity of 950. In 2009, Wayland voters approved a new, $70.8 million, three-building campus that replaced the old one. Construction of the new school was completed at the end of November 2011, and occupancy by the student body began January 3, 2012. In February 2012, with the exception of the Field House, all of the original high school buildings were demolished.HistoryIn the 1950s, Wayland, like many other suburban towns, had grown a great deal in terms of population. With this new wave of residents came many well-educated individuals: doctors, lawyers, businessmen, who wanted an education for their children that was parallel to their own experiences. This factor, combined with the high school's lack of space to accommodate the large number of students and the insistence from the School Building Committee that the town take action, led to the construction of the old school.In his 1957 annual report, superintendent Edward J. Anderson cited Sputnik as the reason why math and science were receiving more attention in the U.S.Anderson also pressed for the town to pay more taxes for the school's construction. In a letter from The Wayland-Weston Town Crier, he said, "Because of spiraling costs, all we're doing now educationally is holding our own and hanging on to what we have. At this rate we're not going to make any dramatic improvements. And yet, the taxes we pay for our schools are certainly high enough."The Town Crier added,Cambridge Consultants, Inc. of Boston, educational consultants, were hired to help the town determine what educational changes and structural changes were needed to make the new high school better than the last.Architecture and constructionWayland High School's old open campus was designed by Herbert Gallagher and John "Chip" Harkness of The Architects' Collaborative, who were hired by the Town of Wayland in January 1958; the two were assisted by the renowned architect Walter Gropius. The School Building Committee interviewed 10 architectural firms before finally making its decision.