Wellesley High School - Wellesleyan Yearbook (Wellesley, MA)

Page 8 text:

Wellesley Senior High School Faced Loss of Accreditation After repeated failures since 1968 of the Wellesley School Committee to produce a viable plan for additional high school facili¬ ties, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. voted to rescind Wellesley High School’s accreditation, after December 1975, unless the town acted affirmatively to redress the inadequacies of the High School plant. The unexpected action of the accredit¬ ing agency was sparked by a July 1974 refer¬ endum in which the townspeople rejected the latest proposal for an addition by a four to one margin. Spiraling construction costs caused many residents to view the recommen¬ dation as too expensive and, for the first time in over thirty years, the public reversed an approved town meeting article. Ironically, the town spent $50,000 on preliminary plans and $395,000 on final plans for the renovation proposal. Industrial arts lacked adequate facilities. Children surveyed wreckage of Kingsbury fire. 4

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Courtesy of the Boston Globe President Ford came in with great expectations. However, the energy crisis still stole from consumers’ pockets. However, even with his Whip Inflation Now (WIN) campaign. President Ford was unable to achieve a significant improvement of the nation ' s economy before the November elections, and, par¬ tially for this reason, the results heavily favored lib¬ eral, Democratic candidates. Faced with pressing foreign and domestic dilemmas, the rejuvenated Congress was to receive the test of crisis time. Although sheltered by our secure suburban com¬ munity from the turmoil of the world around us, we, too, felt its daily effect. Housewives were con¬ fronted by repeated increases in the price of sugar or meat or bread at the supermarket, and student ■ expe¬ rienced the spiraling costs of dating and other social activities. A new, post-Watergate morality inspired public scrutiny of political practices. Rven in Wellesley, a Republican stronghold, conservatism lost ground to the new liberal trend, as shown by the surprising strength of the Democratic guberna¬ torial candidate, Michael Dukakis among Wellesley voters. Wellesley’s traditions remain, but the events of 1974 have profoundly influenced our future. The sacred cow of India was becoming steadily more revered in America. 3

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■pp |if Students were forced to make do with what they had Loss of accreditation would hinder a stu¬ dent’s opportunitity to attend any privately- owned university and might prevent his acceptance to any state college. Although Wellesley High has a high-quality academic program and faculty, deficiencies in voca¬ tional, musical, and artistic facilities and in the school library do exist. The last major addition to the pre-World War II main build¬ ing was in 1962. The staunch opposition to the proposed addition was due in part to a misunderstand¬ ing of what the loss of accreditation meant. Accreditation is granted to any high school which meets the (NEASC) association’s standards of curriculum, physical plant, and staff and recognizes the validity of a high school diploma. In spite of its academic repu¬ tation, Wellesley was faced with the possibil¬ ity of losing its accreditation because of its outdated and overcrowded building. The high school building needs could possibly be met with the use of Kingsbury school.