In 1921 there was a petition to have 7th and 8th graders stay at Woods Hole School instead of commuting to junior high school in Falmouth by barge (an open wagon with seats, not a boat!)
According to a letter to the editor of The Falmouth Enterprise, “The petitioners in this matter held that there was ample room in the Woods Hole school-house for these grades to be maintained there, and that the expense incurred by the transportation to Falmouth by barge, of these 7th and 8th grade pupils would pay for a first-class principal for the Woods Hole school.”
From Frances Cahoon Shepherd’s written memories in the museum archives, we learn that the girls were transported by bus; the boys by barge until the 1930s, when a larger bus was purchased for everyone.
In 1960, The Boston Traveler featured the school’s bell in a delightful story about the schoolhouse, “Old Bell Calls Young To Learning.”
“Pig-tailed and hop-skipping youngsters in this picturesque salt water village vie for the honor of summoning their classmates to school. The summons is an ear-twanging clang on an old-fashioned bell operated by yanking on a sturdy manila rope. And when the bell tolls, its tones reverberate throughout the village. The first is a warning and the second - 10 minutes later – means you’re late for school.
“This year’s proud rope-tuggers are Carlyle Hayes and Robert Foster, both fourth-graders.
“No one would think of replacing the bell with a modern electric device – or replacing the 75-years old Woods Hole elementary school with some new and stylish structure. There’s a bubbling pride in and respect for the gray-painted, two-story structure with its white trim and red doors.”…
… “This community likes it old-fashioned elementary school. Especially the parents of the pupils. The tiny tots need no buses to ferry them long distances.
They’re all within sound of the big clanging bell in the schoolhouse belfry.”
Throughout the years, however, the well-loved school and its staff faced changes and possible closure. The enrollment numbers have gone up and down, but over time they declined.
In 1929, there were 70 students at the school, yet later in 1939, the enrollment numbered 36. The school committee hosted a meeting at the school to discuss options but the school remained open. By 1952, a new teacher was hired, the Enterprise reported, “due to excessive crowding in the first-second grade room. There are now 42 children in this room, the largest number of children in any single elementary classroom in town.”
