In the fall of 1953, Norfolk was grappling with school regionalization. Planning for a regional high school had begun in 1951, after the Gilbert School in Winsted announced that it could no longer educate high school students from neighboring towns. Voters from each of the six towns involved—Barkhamsted, Colebrook, Hartland, Harwinton, New Hartford, and Norfolk—had to tackle a host of issues, the most contentious being whether to have a 4-year or 6-year school program and where the school would be located. The issue embroiled Norfolk in what has been described as “a bloodless civil war,” with no less than fifteen special town meetings and five referendums. The opposition, led by E. Kendall Gillette, advised voting against a 6-year high school (Norfolk’s Center School then went through 8^th grade) on a site not yet chosen. The Committee for a Regional High School was led by Dr. Richard I. Barstow and Edward C. Childs, pictured here. With Colebrook and Barkhamsted already in the district, Norfolk voted 403 to 351 to join and was formally admitted in June of 1954. New Hartford joined in 1955, the current site was chosen the following year, and Northwestern Regional High School opened its doors in 1958.

–Text by Ann Havemeyer
–Photo Courtesy of the Norfolk Historical Society