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The Massachusetts Law of 1647
The Massachusetts law of 1647 was one of the first laws drafted regarding education. It required any town of fifty households to appoint and pay a teacher to teach the children how to read and write. It also stated that any towns over 100 homes must provide a latin grammar school to help prepare students for Universities. -
The Franklin Academy
Benjamin Franklin created the first "secondary" type school after penning the Proposals Relating to the Youth of Pennsylvania where students were able to learn things, such as math, astronomy, athletics, navigation, dramatics, and bookkeeping. His academy became so popular that six thousand academies followed over the next century. -
English Classical School
This school may have only enrolled boys, and 76 out of 176 of them might have dropped out during the first year, but this school paved the way for public high schools. -
Massachusetts State Board of Education
The first state board of education was created wth the help of Horace Mann. Horace Mann was the secretary of the state board, and he visited over 1000 schools and recorded his observations about them. Horace Mann helped establish common (elementary) schools that were open to all. -
Establishing the first Kindergarten
The first kindergarten classroom originated during this year thanks to Friedrich Froebel. He believed that early child development played a key role in education. His kindergarten was developed for just that and allowed for social, physical, and creative development for children.