Old School Days... A Living History Experience

"What an awesome school! Look at these desks - they have inkwells! Do we really write on these slates? Look at this old map. I can't find my street. Let's go see what the outhouse looks like!"

Comments such as these may be overheard as students arrive at Parkerville Schoolhouse where they will spend the day "learning the old way." The students and teachers wear outfits typical of the early 1900's, carry their lunches in baskets, and use slates, hornbooks, and dip pens for reading, writing and arithmetic.

The curriculum for this day encompasses all areas - history, math, reading, spelling, art, music, oral recitation, health, physical education, social skills - and the setting allows for maximum exploration.

Prior to their visit, children are given the name of an actual Parkerville student of the teens or early 1920s. During the school morning, children are called by their student name from long ago. The classroom fills with laughter as the docent teacher tells the stories of student mischief, fun and accomplishment from years' past.

Parkerville Schoolhouse Class 1924

Suggestions on what to wear...

   Long dresses, bonnets, shawls, headscarfs for the girls

   Caps, suspenders, knickers for the boys

Lunch means opening up baskets of sandwiches, sharing corn bread, gingerbread, oatmeal cookies and lemonade. During the recess that follows, students play marbles or jackstones, jump rope, spin tops, and play "cat's cradle." On rainy days, students march around the classroom to the music from the wind-up Victrola.

Westford's rich history comes vividly to life at the Parkerville School.