Freetown Elementary School

Academics

In the statewide Spring 2007 MCAS test for Grade 3 a total of 53 percent of students achieved proficiency in reading (an increase of 3 percent over the year before), with another 49 percent in need of improvement. A total of 56 percent were proficient in mathematics (up 14 percent from the year before) and 44 were found in need of improvement. For Grade 4, the test showed 44 percent were proficient in "English language arts" and 56 percent were in need of improvement mathematics results showed 40 percent proficient, 60 percent in need of improvement.

Facilities

The Ted Just Memorial Field, a baseball field, was constructed on the front yard facing Bullock Road in memory of a fourth grade teacher who died in 1993.

Lack of parking spaces remains a problem at the school, especially for public meetings in the evening and during preschool drop-off and pick-up times. One of the school's parking lots is on Memorial Drive; a smaller one is on Bullock Road. Some parents have parked off of school property and crossed busy streets with their children when dropping them off or picking them up.

History

The town operated between eight and one dozen small school districts throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, and well into the 20th century. These schoolhouses were typically of one or two rooms, were heated by woodstoves, and featured outhouses as their only form of plumbing. As part of the town's post-war planning, it was decided to construct a centrally-located elementary school for all the town's students.

Israel T. Almy of Fall River was selected as the architect, and the school was constructed from 1949 - 1950. The eight-room grammar school replaced all the town's schoolhouses when opened in 1950. It housed grades 1-8 until 1972, when grades 5-8 moved to the new George R. Austin Middle School (now the Freetown-Lakeville Middle School). Kindergarten and preschool programs have also been added, bringing the current grade span to PreK-4.

The building has been extensively remodelled and expanded, most recently in 1999-2002, and prior to that in at least 1965. A new gymnasium was constructed in 1965, and replaced in 2002, leaving the original gymnasium/auditorium to function solely as an auditorium. As a result of this space, the school is now home to Freetown's town meetings.

The $9.5 million expansion in 2002 added 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²) of space to the building, bringing it to a total of 105,000 square feet (9,800 m²). The new gymnasium has its own bathrooms and office space (with a private shower) for the school gym teacher, who previously operated out of a closet. The school library space was extended by 10 feet (3.0 m) and a skylight was installed in it. New windows and hallway tiles were installed, along with 32-inch (810 mm) television monitors hung from the ceilings of every classroom. Storage areas were converted into new, large music and art classrooms. A computer lab with 32 Imac computers was added to the library, and a science computer lab with 16 computers was also added as part of the renovations. The project was designed and built by architects Strekelodsky & Hoit of Hingham and AMG Construction of Stoughton.

On November 30th, 2009, the school's 2002 gymnasium was named after Tyler Trahan.

Budget-related actions

Tight financing for the school has sometimes caused problems, led to disputes and even changed the color of the principal's hair.

The annual Parent Teacher Organization fund-raiser pays for various programs, including transportation for field trips, special in-class programs and visiting performing-arts groups. In the 2006-2007 school year, the PTO donated $4,500 for a new school driveway. In October 2007, Principal Robert Frizelle offered to change his hair color every day for a week if the fund-raiser gathered in more than $18,000 (fund-raising had been down, with only $13,000 gathered the year before). Parents and children sold magazines, small gifts and wrapping paper in the 2007 campaign, and they met the fund-raising goal. Frizelle began his hair coloring with red, in honor of the Boston Red Sox. (He used spray-on colors sold for Halloween.)

Budget constraints forced the closing of the school library in the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years. The library was reopened in the fall of 2007.

The school was forced to repay $42,000 in November 2007 to the Town, with a further $5,000 in dispute.

Events

The school has a chorus that performs in an annual Winter Holiday Concert in December. Each November, the school has an annual Food Drive that helps needy families in Freetown.

Story telling festival

The school has an annual story-telling festival in which third- and fourth-grade students tell folk tales and legends from around the world while dressed in costumes and using props. The fourth annual Student Storytelling Festival took place in June 2006.

Special education program

In 2007 a new special education class at Freetown Elementary was established which is intended to attract students from other schools.