Like the School itself, this section remains a work in progress. It
is the barest start of a chronology, overweighted to the buildings in
which Graham and Parks has been housed.
Graham and Parks is the result of joining two schools in 1981 -- the
Cambridge Alternative Public School (CAPS), which was a small,
nationally acclaimed magnet school, and the Webster School, which was a
small, traditional neighborhood school. The school was located on Upton
Street from 1982 until 2003, when it moved to 44 Linnaean Street.
1852
Field land purchased on Webster Street for $9,000.00
June 4, 1853
Daniel Webster Grammar School built for $15,450.00. Hovey and Ryder,
architect, M. & J. Ricker, Spencer & Pollard, builder.
1859
Willard Middle School students now attend Webster School.
June 26, 1873
Building
remodeled and enlarged for $12,970.00. Privy building removed; addition
of four rooms on each floor and one large finished room in the attic.
from xerox of stereoview, undated
May 1, 1885
Right rear (north) addition built, backing up to Pleasant Place. Street renamed Upton Street. Hovey & Ryder, architect.
from
Tribune, 1890 Souvenir number
1909, 1910
Left addition (west), adding
four more classrooms per floor. Wheelwright and Haven, architect.
1938
Demolition of building (except for 1909 addition), which is incorporated
in modern, brick, three-story construction. R. Shaw, architect; M.
Spinelli & Sons, architects. School now named Webster School.
Webster School, Upton Street (1955)
CHC negative 791
1971
The
CAPS (Cambridge Alternative Public School) Program is founded in 1971 by
a vote of the School Committee and opens in the vacated Putnam School
in 1972. The program is designed along the lines of the Pilot School:
open classrooms, one-to-one instruction, paced learning, parent
involvement in decision-making and teaching. The program starts out with
grades K-4, and adds a grade every year thereafter. (from unattributed,
untitled and undated history of CPS)
1974
CAPS moves to the St. Mary's Grammar School on Essex Street. (from unattributed, untitled and undated history of CPS)
1981
CAPS
merges with the Webster School (a small, traditional neighborhood
school) to form the Graham and Parks Alternative Public
School.1982
Complete renovation of former Webster School site. Hill,
Miller, Friedlander, Hollander, Inc., architects.
October 15, 1983
Dedication of the Graham and Parks Alternative Public School at 15 Upton Street.
August 2003
Graham and Parks Alternative Public School moved to 44 Linnaean Street, a mid-century building designed by Stubbins Associates.
Sources
Images obtained by the G & P administration from the Cambridge
Historical Commission. Information obtained from the G & P
administration, and from History of Cambridge school system (an
unattributed, untitled and undated history, 19 pages in length; most
recent reference is to 1976). Corrections, elaborations and further
contributions are invited.