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First Public School in America
The Boston Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts was the first public school established in what would be the United States. This was a boys-only school, strictly for college preparation. It taught Latin and Greek and focused on humanities. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/apr23/first-public-school-america/#:~:text=Apr%2023%2C%201635%20CE%3A%20First%20Public%20School%20in%20America,-6%20%2D%2012%2B&text=On%20April%2023%2C%201635%2C%20the,Philemon%20Pormont%2C%20a%20Puritan%20settler. -
First Institution of Higher Education
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts was the first institution of higher education in America. It was founded on October 28, 1636, and would become the most prestigious universities in the world.
https://www.worldbook.com/blog/This-Week-in-History-Harvard-University-was-founded-in-1636 -
First Chartered Female Academy
In 1787, John Poor established the first the Young Ladies’ Academy of Philadelphia which would become the first chartered female academy in the United States five years later. This is the first time females were given the true opportunity to receive the same education as males. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/womens-education/ -
First School for the Deaf
On April 15, 1817, in Hartford, Connecticut The American School for the Deaf was founded. This was the first permanent school created for the deaf.
https://www.ctmq.org/oldest-school-etc-for-deaf-in-us/ -
First Public High School
The English Classical School opened in 1821 with 101 male students in Boston. This was America’s first high school of any kind. https://thebronxchronicle.com/2017/05/25/first-public-high-school-english-classical-school/ -
Common School Movement
Horace Mann accepts the
position of First Secretary of the State Board of
Education in Massachusetts in 1837. He used this position to create the Common School Movement which ensured that every child could receive a basic education funded by local taxes. His influence soon spread beyond Massachusetts as more states took up the idea of universal schooling.
https://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/horace.html -
First Compulsory Education Law
In 1852, Massachusetts became the first state to enact a compulsory education law. This required every city to offer a primary school. Parents who refused to send their children to school were fined and sometimes even stripped of their parental rights. https://www.findlaw.com/education/education-options/compulsory-education-laws-background.html -
Title IX Enforced
Title IX in the Education Act was passed in 1972 by Richard Nixon. It states that "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2l4EZwevz4&feature=emb_imp_woyt
Source: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html -
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act
In 1972, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act was passed. This required all schools receiving federal funding to provide handicapped children equal access to education and be placed in the least restrictive educational environment possible. http://commons.trincoll.edu/edreform/2012/05/the-education-for-all-handicapped-children-act-a-faltering-step-towards-integration/#:~:text=However%2C%20in%201975%20this%20changed,least%20restrictive%20educational%20environment%20possible. -
Head Start Program
The Head Start Program Performance Standards were originally published in 1975 after President Lyndon B. Johnson declared The War on Poverty in his State of the Union speech. Head Start was created to help preschool children that come from low-income families by providing them with a program that can meet their emotional, social, health, and psychological needs.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCMtXcgOEJI&feature=youtu.be
Source: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohs/about/history-head-start
