Before centralization, the Norfolk district school system included eleven grammar schools, each managed by a local school committee. Schoolhouses were simple one-room structures with a wood stove providing heat. The North Middle School pictured here still stands at the corner of Ashpohtag and Bald Mountain Roads. The district schools served a varying number of children, and teachers were usually boarded in neighboring homes. One particularly notable Norfolk student who began her education at a Norfolk district school was Zilpah Polly Grant Banister, a pioneer in the education of women. She established two female academies and was an influential mentor to Mary Lyon who founded the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, later Mount Holyoke College.

—Ann Havemeyer

Photo courtesy of the Norfolk Historical Society.