North District Schoolhouse – West Parish, Andover

The triangular green at the intersection of River Road and North Street once housed the North District Schoolhouses. In 1795 twelve school districts were created in Andover, six in the North Parish and six in the South Parish. Abbott School District served the children of this neighborhood. The school house was located in the center of the district at the intersection of Chandler Road and Brundett Ave.
In 1837 the district was divided in half and the northeast section became the North District. A small rectangular school was erected on the site by the residents of the district in 1837. The first teacher of record was Miss Elmira J. Griffin who taught 9 months in the summer terms. In 1838 Lucy Hamlin taught summer and Joseph F. Clark the winter terms.

Funds must have been tight for this district as the schoolhouse was mentioned often in the Annual School Reports for its declining condition. The April 1, 1854 report commends teacher Sarah A. Hamlin for her outstanding work. The building was another story. “This is the smallest school in town. But the children, few as they are in number, are yet too numerous for the little box in which they are packed. Such a building is not large enough for any purpose of human instruction. It is too uncomfortable and ugly in itself and in all its appointments to deserve longer toleration by an enlightened community… We shall be pardoned for suggesting that an edifice not unlike a medium-looking hen house in airiness and amplitude of dimension, with no pleasant object within or without to address the eye or touch the heart, is not exactly the place to kindle the intellect and develop the moral nature of the young.”

In 1858 the reports last remark: “If the parents of this district have concluded to keep their school-house another century, a little paint and whitewash on the inside would do no harm.”

In 1866 the old District School governing system was replaced by the Municipal Public School System.
All the former district properties were turned over to the town. One School Committee had jurisdiction over all the schools, the curriculum, hiring teachers and the maintenance of its buildings.

Repairs on the school were done but the building survived another 29 years before in was replaced in 1895 by a handsome gambrel roofed building. It would be the last one room school built in Andover.

Andover Townsman – May 10, 1895 p.4 – The resident of the North District, West Parish will soon be the possessors of a fine little schoolhouse. The contract for building is awarded to Hardy & Cole. bid $1335.

AT – July 5, 1895 – The old North Schoolhouse building in West Parish will be sold at auction tomorrow (July 6) afternoon at 2 o’clock by auctioneer Geo. S. Cole.

AT – Aug. 9, 1895 p. 1 - The new North District schoolhouse is practically completed and the seats and other school furniture were placed in position this week. School opened on September 9, 1895 with teacher Agalena Aldrich of Lawrence, who taught 1st through 9th grade the last year in the old school the first year in the new. Miss Aldrich’s salary was $342.

The Abbott District School was later closed and the students went to North School. Increased enrollment saw the addition of a second classroom added in 1911. The school was remodeled and the front entrance moved over. It was designed by Addison Le Boutillier. The outhouse or Necessaries were replaced in 1926 when toilets were installed in the basement of the school. The coal furnace was changed to oil heat in 1934. The North School was closed in June 1946 with just 17 students in grades 1-4. Margaret Bartley was the last teacher.

With the close of WWII the Baby Boomers began to arrive. Andover began an aggressive building program in the 1950s building new modern neighborhood schools. West Elementary School and Central Elementary School opened in 1952. Additions to West and Shawsheen in 1954-55, Andover High School in 1957, South School in 1958 and Sanborn in 1961.

The North School was used by the West Andover Community Association well into the 1980s. Meetings, neighborhood suppers and Christmas parties were held here. The wall between the classrooms was removed creating a good size hall for people to meet. The school was however razed on May 5 – 7, 1984.