ColchesterTalks.com Free and open access to Colchester's rich history.
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ColchesterTalks.com Free and open access to Colchester's rich history.
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Class of 2008 Grad Committee info
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Interested in other local history within the state? Please visit our following website affiliates that are kind enough to list Colchestertalks.com Visit Connecticut's Heritage Gateway a program of
The Connecticut Historical Society
Find out about Colchester's current events. Please click here. Some site file downloads are PDF. Please click here to down load a free version of adobe reader.
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School houses have taken several different forms since the 1700's. In general, it's best to divide the history into two major sections. First, there are buildings for elementary and middle school students. Second, there are buildings for high school students. Elementary and Middle Public Schools:
clip art
Colchester district school circa 1930's.
photo credit Library of Congress
District Public Schools Up until 1938, Colchester was divided into small districts with local one room school house per district. For example, in the mid 1800's Colchester had 15 districts. Click here to see the map.(1)
Centralized Public Schools
Colchester Central School (1938- 1989)
In the late 1930's, Colchester's citizens decided it was best to have all children under one roof.
Colchester Central School was built in 1938. In 1953, additions were made to accommodate a growing population. In 1989, most of it was razed to make way for William J. Johnston Middle School. Certain parts of CCS, however still stand.
Halls Hill School (1962-1986) Jack Jackter Elementary (1986-2006) Jack Jackter Intermediate (2006- )
Construction started on Halls Hill in 1966. At that time, it was meant to have about 810 students. Click here to see the initial architect's report from 1965.
In 1966 and 1976, additions were required to increase capacity to over 870 students. In the 1986-1987 school year, the school's name was changed to Jack Jackter Elementary School. In 2006, with the opening of Colchester Elementary School, classes were reconfigured. At that time, Jack Jackter was changed to an intermediate school housing grades 3-5.
Colchester Intermediate School (1993-2006)
click to enlarge digitally altered to remove traffic sign in foreground
CIS was originally built as the 2nd Bacon Academy High School in 1962. Additions were made in 1966 and 1982. In 1993, once the 3rd Bacon Academy was built, the building then housed grades 3-5. Finally, in 2006, with the opening of Colchester Elementary School, CIS was merged into William J. Johnston Middle School.
William J. Johnston Middle School (1989- )
In 1989, WJJMS was built adjacent to CIS to accommodate the growing population of grades 6-8. Most of the building was new. Yet, parts of Colchester Central School were still used.
The new school was named after local hero, William J. Johnston who received the prestigious Congressional Medal of Honor.
In 2006, with the opening of Colchester Elementary School, CIS was merged into William J. Johnston Middle School. Colchester Elementary School (2006- )
In 2006, Colchester built it's sixth new public school. (Others argue it's only the fifth school because WJJMS used parts of Colchester Central School.) This new school offers state of the art facilities making it one of the most modern in the state of Connecticut. In 2006, it housed about 750 children for grades Pre-K through 2. Share in a brief moment in history September 6, 2006. The following are links to a 1 min 37 sec clips. Please use the low resolution if you have dial up service. It sacrifices quality for file size. Those with high speed service should use the hi-res file. Ribbon cutting ceremony dial up low res 276 KB Ribbon cutting ceremony hi-res res 19.6 MB Public High Schools Old Bacon Academy Between 1803 and 1962, Colchester's children attended the private institution of Bacon Academy. This school was built through a private endowment. The Colchester Board of Education assumed administrative duties in 1961. Yet, it wasn't until 1962 that our first public high school was built with taxpayer dollars. Bacon Academy II (1962-1993)
click to enlarge digitally altered to remove traffic sign in foreground In 1962, the high school was built to house grades 7-12. In 1966 and 1982 additions were made to accommodate a library, cafeteria and new curriculums like Industrial Arts. In 1993, this building was renamed to Colchester Intermediate School. Bacon Academy III (1993 - )
In 1993, the current public high school was built. Click here for an interesting history of Bacon Academy 1953-2003. It's been published with permission of the author John F. Malsbenden. He is one of few that taught at all three Bacon Academies.
(1) Published with permission of the Colchester Board of Selectmen
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