One of the primary and major responsibilities of a local government is to provide children with adequate educational opportunities. In 1698, the purpose of schooling was to teach children to “read, write and cypher,” which later was referred to as the three Rs: “reading, ‘riting (writing) and ‘rithmetic (arithmetic).”

The beginning of schools in Groton can be traced back to within a few years of the town’s establishment in 1705. In Charles R. Stark’s book “Groton, Conn. 1705-1905,” it is relayed that in May 1706, when Groton’s first school master, John Barnard, was engaged to teach children, he did so at several houses including the house of Samuel Avery until a schoolhouse was built.

As a point of interest, the Samuel Avery house was the “Hive of the Averys” homestead on Poquonnock Road, where the present Avery Memorial Park is located.

Back in the 1700s, it was common practice for towns to build their schools near their meeting house, which was almost always the common church. Although it cannot be officially documented, Groton’s first school was, in all likelihood, built near the first meeting hall which stood in the vicinity of what was called the Four Corners in Center Groton.

For all intents and purposes, it was referred to as the “schoolhouse.”

As Groton developed, large numbers of settlers established small villages located throughout the town. Often times, due to the long distances between these villages and the Center Groton schoolhouse, many families found it almost infeasible and impractical to send their children to the town’s one schoolhouse.

It then became necessary for the town and its villages to build additional schoolhouses within their communities to provide their children with an appropriate formal education. These newly established facilities became known as “school societies” or “district schools.”

For the most part, they were small wooden one- or two-room schools; however, a few had two floors.

The schools would provide instructions to children in grades 1 through 8 and classes were in session for 36 weeks, with both winter and summer sessions. Because there was no high school in Groton until 1929, it was necessary for those students who desired to continue their education beyond the eighth grade to enroll at high schools in other towns in New London County, including Bulkeley High School, Chapman Technological High School and Williams Memorial Institute in New London, Norwich Free Academy, and Stonington High School.

The dramatic increase in funding necessary for the building and upkeep of these new school facilities, as well as providing teachers, was very difficult and impacting to the residents.

The history of providing funding for schools, not only in Groton, but throughout the state, is extremely convoluted and is too lengthy to include in this article. However, laws passed from the late 1700s through the mid-1850s did provide assistance.

The laws also required the establishment of dedicated school committees to control and oversee the school(s) in each district.

In a report provided by district committees dated Jan. 1, 1860, it was learned that there were a total of 11 school districts in Groton.

The districts were identified as: 1, Groton Bank (the northern portion of the City of Groton); 2, Lane (commonly known as “Skunk Lane” in Pleasant Valley); 3, Center (Center Groton); 4, Burnetts (Burnett’s Corner); 5, Mystic; 6, Upper Noank (between the top of Fort Hill and Noank village); 7, Pequonnock [sic] (the area encompassing what today is Poquonnock Bridge); 8, Shinnicossett [sic] (Shennecossett — also known as Eastern Point in the southern portion of the City of Groton); 9, Flanders (the area between Mystic and Poquonnock); 10, Old Field (West Mystic); and 11, Noank.

As a point of interest, the total number of children attending all of the district schools in Groton was 1,103 in 1860, 1,289 in 1870, 1,112 in 1890 and 1,156 in 1900.

In 1941, the district school system was discarded, and all of the schools were consolidated and placed under the supervision of the Town of Groton. An elected Board of Education was also established to have overall control of all of Groton’s public schools.

It should be noted that the Robert E. Fitch High School, built in 1929, was the last school built by and during the district school period of control.

From the beginning of World War II in 1939, and continuing through the mid 1950s, Groton’s population doubled in size. Along with this dramatic growth in population came a large increase in the number of children attending Groton schools.

The surge in school attendance placed such an enormous strain on the school system that it became necessary for Groton to both build new schools and add additions to several existing schools.

During the period of 1944 through 1954, five new elementary schools were built, including Fort Hill, Poquonnock Bridge, Claude Chester, S.B. Butler and William Seely. Also, in the early 1940s, major additions were made to the Eastern Point and Pleasant Valley schools.

In the early 1950s, in an effort to cope with projected large increases in high school students, Groton elected to build a new “campus style” Fitch [Senior] High School at the top of Fort Hill. At about the same time, the Board of Education established a new mid-level, or junior high school program which would be comprised of seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade students, who had been high school freshmen.

The new junior high program necessitated converting the old Fitch High School into a junior high and also building a new junior high school, West Side Junior High.

Then, in 1989, a decision was made to convert the junior high schools into a new middle school program wherein these schools would only be attended by students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grade. Ninth-grade students would again attend the high school.

The middle school program necessitated converting Carl Cutler Elementary School into the third middle school.

In 2012, after a decision was made to close Fitch Middle School, students programmed to attend that school attended either West Side or Cutler.

In September of this year, the new Groton Middle School opened, eliminating the need for Cutler and West Side. New elementary schools are presently being built on the sites of these former schools.

Throughout the years, several other elementary schools have been built at various locations in Groton, including Groton Heights, Colonel Ledyard, William Trail, Noank, Charles Barnum, Freeman Hathaway, Mary Morrison, Northeast Academy and Catherine Kolnaski.

Groton has, in the past, and continues to place priority on providing its student population with the most up-to-date and cost-efficient schools. These schools, along with their professional and dedicated teaching staff, are what make Groton an attractive place to live.

Kevin Trejo and Arnold Crossman contributed to this article.

Jim Streeter is the historian for the town of Groton.