The Consolidated School
By Todd Vibert
For nearly 80 years, from 1869 to 1948, children from Granby were taught in one- or two-room schoolhouses, learning writing, arithmetic, geography, science, history and penmanship. That changed in the fall of 1948 when Granby opened a single building to house all students, aptly named the Consolidated School. This building, which remains part of today’s Granby Memorial High School, marked a significant change in local education.
The decision to build a consolidated school was made in 1938 by the board of education, led by Frank Kearns. The board committed to a 10-year plan, envisioning a school that would house all elementary students with modern amenities, including running water, sanitary facilities, vented heating and electricity. This move eliminated the need for outhouses and well water, which was common at the old one-room schoolhouses. Kearns would be honored for his long service to the town in 1959 when a new grammar school on Canton Road was named the Frank M. Kearns Primary School.
Before 1948, students walked to school, but with the opening of the new building, all were bused for the first time. In 1938 there were 176 students enrolled in Granby schools, with an additional 10 attending Simsbury High School. By the school’s completion in 1948, enrollment had grown to 254 students, and the new building could accommodate 300.
Construction on the Consolidated School began in August 1947 and was completed within the year at a cost of $395,000. The ten-room school included an auditorium and a kitchen, serving grades one through eight. The school also introduced a student council, with representatives from each grade. The school’s first principal, James C. White, would become the system’s first superintendent.
The auditorium became a vital gathering space for both the school and the town. It hosted plays, basketball games and dances, and community groups such as the Lost Acres Fire Department and the Shannon-Shattuck Legion Post 82 used it for public events. Special Granby meetings were also held there. The rental cost for the auditorium was $10 for town groups and $50 for those from outside of Granby, with an additional $5 fee for kitchen use and a required custodian fee.
On June 30, 1949, the first eighth grade graduation ceremony was held, with 29 students receiving diplomas. The school remained known as the Consolidated School until 1951, when a new wing was added and it was renamed Granby Memorial School. Today, it stands as Granby Memorial High School.
As for the original one-room schoolhouses, four were razed, five were purchased and converted into private residences, and the two-room schoolhouse in District Number 4 became the home of the Shannon-Shattuck Legion Post 82. The two-room Center School, located behind the old library, later served as Granby Town Hall for many years and is now owned by the South Congregational Church. The Cooley School, sold to George Clark for $200 in 1948, was donated to the Salmon Brook Historical Society in 1972 and relocated to its main campus in 1980. The Cooley School is open for public tours on Sundays starting June 22, from 2 to 4 p.m.
For those interested in learning more about the Consolidated School, one-room schoolhouses or education in Granby, join the Salmon Brook Historical Society by calling 860-653-9506, or visit salmonbrookhistoricalsociety.com
Getting to know Jean Potetz
Jean Potetz, the Salmon Brook Historical Society’s textile director, and her husband Richard have been society members since the mid-1980s. Both have served as board members and worked on society committees. In the late 1990s Jean began working with textiles with Evelyn Hildreth and Grace Ayer. Richard serves as a docent in the barn museum and also as a major support to Jean helping with various events and storage suggestions.
Potetz became responsible for the textile collection when one morning Hildreth said to her, “Grace and I have been talking and we’ve decided it’s time for you to take over textiles.”
Since 2001, Thursday mornings find Potetz and her dedicated co-volunteers working to store the society’s extensive textile collection for the future and create textile exhibits for today’s visitors. A quilt-maker and lover of old quilts and their histories, Potetz believes each quilt has a story. Over the years she has learned other textiles do as well.
Submitted by Sarah Langdon