Chelsea High School - Beacon Yearbook (Chelsea, MA)

Page 9 text:

FOREWORD One of the most precious traditions in our New England Heritage is the love of education. The Pilgrims barely landed on Plymouth Rock when they began to make plans to establish a school. One of the most famous universities in the world, Harvard, began to materialize almost immediately as a result of these plans. In Chelsea this New England tradition has been carefully fostered from the beginning to the present day. As early as 1655 Chelsea appropriated funds to provide free education for children of the settlement, being one of the earliest settlements to make such provisions. By 1749 the progressive leaders of the town had secured the services of a woman teacher to conduct a school to provide for secondary as well as elementary education and in 1851 Chelsea became one of the first to adopt a phonetic system of reading. A major step towards effective vocational education was taken in 1902 when commercial subjects were introduced at the Senior High School. At present our city is doing its best to provide modern facilities and equip¬ ment in all school departments to meet the needs of a progressive, democratic society.