Wiley School

Wiley School
1980, Wiley School -- Mrs. McCarthy's 5th Grade Class.]]Wiley School opened in September 1971 to 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in the City of Watertown. It was considered a progressive school, utilizing an open classroom format (with no walls), team teaching, and individualized education. Each wing became a mini-community, having its own principal, while there was a building principal to oversee continuity over the whole.

Although students initially were in mixed-age groups within each wing, later on students were segregated by wings assigned to specific grades.

At onset, although some of the staff were enthusiastic about the innovative educational decisions, lack of in-service training resulted in a gradual "partitioning" of the wings by teachers using coat racks, bulletin boards, and bookshelves to demarcate classroom space.

Beginning in 2006, Wiley School underwent a change, beginning with the 4th grades returning to neighborhood schools. Interior walls and atriums were constructed in the formerly open spaces, and now Wiley resembles a more traditional intermediate school building.