Westerly High School

Westerly High School is a public high school located in Westerly, Rhode Island, United States. The school is part of Westerly Public Schools.HistoryVarious incarnations of a high school have been serving students in Westerly since shortly after the American Civil War.Three buildings in the first century (1870–1960)The first Westerly High School was built at 32 Elm Street in 1870. It cost $10,000 to build.After about 30 years, the building was too small to support the town's population. This led to the construction of a new building on Broad and Granite Street, which was completed in 1903.The high school's population began to rise in the late 1920s. This led to the construction of Babcock Junior High School on Highland Avenue, which reduced the high school population to include only students in grades 10–12. Despite this, the school was still not big enough to provide a secondary education to the students of Westerly.The Broad Street building was abandoned and replaced with a new building, completed in 1937, on Ward Avenue, one block east of Babcock Junior High School. This building became known as Ward Senior High School, named after Rhode Island Governor Samuel Ward.Transformation and modernization (1960s–1990s)Throughout the 1960s, the Westerly Public Schools underwent transformations. A fifth elementary school (Dunn's Corners) was added. In addition, Babcock Junior High and Westerly High were renovated. The high school got a new library, new science rooms, new music rooms, and new general classrooms.In the mid–1970s, ninth grade returned to the high school. High enrollment and the extra grade led to the creation of a new gymnasium and new classrooms. The new wing – built on a practice field near Park Avenue – comprised home economics classrooms, technology classrooms, art classrooms, and general classrooms.