The School Controversy That Split Newtown 85 Years Ago

By Jan Howard

For two years the Town of Newtown had two high schools, with the town split into two hostile factions. It began in 1919 when Leo T. Hickson, supervisor of the high school, fired an unusually popular teacher.

In an editorial in the October 17, 1919 Newtown Bee, it was reported that Claire Spring, a teacher exceedingly well liked by pupils and parents, reported for duty as usual, only to be sent home by Mr Hickson. When Miss Spring reminded Mr Hickson that she was under contract, requiring a month’s notice, he replied that it didn’t matter because her certificate was revoked.

When The Bee asked Mr Hickson if he had discharged Miss Spring, he said he had not. The fact remained, however, that he had sent her home. Mr Hickson stated in the presence of witnesses that Miss Spring had resigned three times, and that it was on record.

When he was asked if Miss Spring was incompetent, Mr Hickson refused to answer. Asked if it would have been courteous to give her a month’s notice, he intimated he could not have his school broken up.

The editorial noted that his precipitous action in sending the teacher home was “most unfortunate” and raised the questions: “And what, Mr Hickson, is our Town Board of Education elected for? Are they to be like the ornamental weather vane on the rich man’s barn, just for ornament? Or are they to be advised with and consulted when exigencies arise? Did the board advise and concur in the abrupt letting go of this popular teacher?”

The editorial continued, “Mr Hickson may be technically correct in his position, but we believe his action was hasty and really lacking in consideration for a teacher of the weaker sex. And is action of this nature calculated to conduce to an increased community of interests on the part of the taxpayers, who bear the real burden of the support of the high school, toward the high school in the way of future support?”

On October 19, The Bee reported public feeling in Newtown was at white heat over Mr Hickson’s official action in the case of Miss Spring.

The Bee reported that during a school board’s executive session, Mr Hickson discussed Miss Spring’s case at length, claiming she had conducted herself in an insubordinate manner and abetted the children in plans for a strike, had no discipline, didn’t have a good study plan, and failed to carry out his wishes because she had her own ideas about teaching.

He claimed she had resigned three times and had grown weary of her resignations. He said she and another teacher, Miss Koster, had objected to him criticizing their teaching in the presence of pupils.

Miss Spring explained that when she was hired Mr Hickson had written her that there would be no trouble in finding a boarding place. She claimed he misrepresented the true situation. She also noted their disagreement over the school orchestra appearing at a benefit for the town hall. Other scraps with him included her refusal to teach physical exercises after school after teaching all day and his request that she take the public speaking and debating class during her only free period on Friday. It was at this point, she said, that she told him she would resign.

That Wednesday, Miss Spring said Mr Hickson telephoned her, asking if she was still of the same mind. When she said she was, he said, “Then I’ll accept your resignation” to which she responded, “I do not give my resignation over the telephone. I have not resigned.”

However, she told the school board she would not work any longer under Mr Hickson.

Miss S. Scudder of the school board made a motion that Miss Spring reconsider her resignation and the supervisor be instructed to rearrange curriculum to the best advantage. Mr Gallagher, another member, however, amended the motion to say, “that we accepted her resignation.” The motion ended in a tie vote.

At that point, Miss Koster said if Miss Spring were to go, she also would present her resignation.

N. Searles Light of the state Board of Education, who was in attendance, said that while a teacher with Miss Spring’s attitude could be rather “tantalizing” to a supervisor, he thought six studies were too much for any teacher.

The chairman read two petitions, one signed by 70 parents and another by 58 pupils, asking the board to retain Miss Spring and Miss Koster as teachers.

The following week the Board of Education was to hear petitioners regarding the past conduct and actions of Mr Hickson; however, three board members failed to appear. One later said he was ill, another had an appointment, and the third thought the meeting had been cancelled. At another meeting, the hall was crowded with friends and supporters of Mr Hickson, who presented a petition signed by approximately 120 citizens, attesting to his high character and standing.

Whether Miss Spring was fired or resigned was never fully explained, but many students protested her absence by leaving the high school, and with the support of their parents, formed the Newtown Community School, which met in what later would become the Sunset Tavern on the corner of Currituck Road and Academy Lane.

The Community School was organized with Miss Spring as principal. Among the faculty members was Raymond Hall, an influential force in the educational system through the 1960s. Miss Koster later joined them.

The Community School opened November 1919 with 44 students and graduated its first senior class of three girls in the spring of 1920. The school reopened in the fall of 1920 with 50 students.

Meanwhile, Newtown High School continued with the remaining students under Mr Hickson’s supervision in the old Academy building on Church Hill Road. Their tenure there was cut short in June of 1920 by a mysterious fire that destroyed the building and left the students to seek education elsewhere. Some took the train to Danbury High School while others traveled to New Milford or Bridgeport.

The fire further divided the town, and bitter feelings again were raised over previous school controversies. At this point, Mary Hawley offered enough money to build and maintain a new high school, effectively bringing the warring factions together. By the fall of 1921, Newtown’s teens were once again being educated together, at this time in the Trinity Church basement.

Hawley School was completed in the fall of 1922.

The Community School did have one lasting effect on the high school. During its two years, it developed a strong identity with Native Americans. Students called themselves the Necosko tribe, derived from (Ne)town (Co)mmunity (S’k’o)ol, and adopted the Native American as their mascot.

The Native American high school mascot survived when Hawley High School opened and continued until 1997 when the name was changed to the “Nighthawks.”

“The Record of the Tribe” by Helen Howard, in the Newtown Community School’s 1920 yearbook, refers to the schism in the town’s high school:

“Many, many moons ago,

As a part of the Nehisko,

Lived the tribe now called Necosko,

With the sachem of the old tribe

Had they many bitter quarrels,

‘Til at last they sought departure,

Seeking wigwams of their own.

After days and days of roaming,

With the help of their loved elders,

Established they a strong new tepee,

Established they our Sunset

wigwam…”

 

In the Newtown Community School’s 1920 yearbook, student Marguerite Bradley wrote that the students “wished to have a living being of this country and climate, who was physically beautiful, heroic, honorable, and well-known. The best types of the American Indian combine all these traits. It was for these reasons that Ne(wtown) Co(mmunity) S’k’o(ol) chose the Indian as its mascot.”

The Newtown Community School’s 1920 yearbook cover depicts a Native American brave with the Necosko name beneath it and the year. Inside, student writings about their school and its students included many references to Native Americans. By the 1921 yearbook, however, Necosko had become Newtown Community School and references to Native Americans life were missing from written materials. The mascot endured.

The school took part in social affairs of other associations and groups in Newtown, including musical programs for the Girls’ Friendly Society dances and the Grange. The civics class presented a pageant, “The Immigrant Gateway,” which included children from the community.

In the school’s 1920 yearbook, information about each class is referred to in some way to Native Americans. The freshman class is referred to as “youngest maidens and warriors” while the three seniors are “the oldest maidens of 1920 of the Necosko tribe” that entered “our new wigwam on Sunset Hill in November 1919, after the great separation of the two tribes.” The school’s honor system is its totem, the “symbol” of self-reliance, of fairness, and justice.

By the time the 1921 yearbook was printed, the students knew their days in Newtown Community School were numbered. As Helen Howard wrote, “This is the second and last year of Community’s existence. It is the last year owing to the fact that next year Newtown will contain a public high school. But although the career of our school has been short-lived, we hope and firmly believe that the lesson it has taught us, the ideals it has stood for, will not be ephemeral…”

(Information for this story was found in Educating Newtown’s Children: A History of Its Schools by Daniel Cruson and the 1920 and 1921 yearbooks of the Newtown Community School.)