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History of Mamaroneck Schools

The first known colonial settlement in the area was made in 1661 when John Richbell purchased three necks of land from the Mohican Indians. Forty-three years later, in 1704, Caleb Heathcote wrote to London expressing the need for a schoolmaster. Before the year was out, the Society of the Gospel in Foreign Parts sent Joseph Cleator to teach for four months in Mamaroneck, four in Bedford and four in Rye. The first Mamaroneck school building was erected some time before 1733 and was probably a privately funded school.

Though there was a private school offering elementary instruction to children living within the town, in 1795 a law was passed giving taxpayers responsibility for schools in New York State and two schools were built. The first public school, the Weaver Street School, opened in 1808 and served students until Murray Avenue was built in 1922. The house later became a private home. By 1819 a second school, the Depot School, was located on a triangular piece of land bordered by Mamaroneck and Mount Pleasant Avenues. In the early 1900's, facing overcrowding, the Mamaroneck Avenue School was built. It was completed in 1909 with additions to the building in 1916 and 1928. The original Depot School is now a historical site in Harbor Island Park.

Prior to 1888, only elementary school subjects were taught in the Mamaroneck public schools. In order to meet the need to prepare schools for college, a high school was needed and the Mamaroneck Union Free School District was formed and chartered by the state on June 27, 1898. The Board of Education's minutes from November 18, 1887, stated, "No better investment can be made for the children of our district than to educate them thoroughly and well; they will then have the intelligence which adapts itself to every condition of life and makes most of opportunity. Every farm, every piece of property, has a value added to it by public schools of a high grade cheerfully sustained by the taxpayers." The Board of Education purchased property that ran from the Post Road to Rockland Avenue and built a "high graded school" which served 250 students in grades 1 - 12. The first graduating class in 1891 had five graduates. The building was called Central School in 1905 and changed functions many times. In 1925 the building was converted to an elementary school after the present high school was completed on a hill on Palmer Avenue for grades 7 - 12. When the new Central School was built in 1965, the old Central School became an annex for the overcrowded high school. Once Hommocks School was built in 1968, the annex was no longer necessary and the original building housed school administrative offices until it was sold to the Town of Mamaroneck in 1982 to become the Town Center, which is its current function.

Larchmont also continued to grow and was incorporated as a village in 1891. The Larchmont School opened in 1902 and was renamed Chatsworth Avenue School in 1913. Additions to the building were made in 1912, 1922 and 1930. Murray Avenue School was built in 1922, with additions in 1926 and 1930. The High School was built in 1925 with additions in 1956 and 1964. The Junior High School was built in 1931. A wing was added in 1958 and after the Hommocks School was built in 1968, the Junior and High school buildings were joined to make the High School we have today.

In 2002, a new performing arts wing including an auditorium, dedicated art and music rooms, was added to the Hommocks. In 2006, an addition of 10 classrooms was built at the Mamaroneck Avenue School. From 2002-2007 major work was done on the high school. A three story addition was added to accommodate a new library, high tech multi-purpose room and centralized guidance offices. The science rooms were renovated and relocated into one part of the building and a new student concourse was created to bring student life to the center of the school.