Shrewsbury's Newest School, Beal Elementary, To Hold Open House

SHREWSBURY, MA — The brand new Major Howard W. Beal School will be holding an Open House on Saturday, Sept. 25, from 9 a.m. to noon.

In conjunction with the Spirit of Shrewsbury Fall Festival, the Major Howard W. Beal School, located at 214 Lake Street, will be open to the public for self-guided tours, according to Beth McCollum, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent.

"Members of the public are invited to view the interior and the grounds of this beautiful new state-of-the-art educational facility," said McCollum.

Per state and local mandate, masks will be required when inside the school building.

Beal School was built in 2021 and opened its doors to students in grades kindergarten through fourth grade on Sept. 1, according to Facebook.

School Superintendent Joe Sawyer explains who Major Howard W. Beal was: "He was a highly respected physician in the Worcester area in the early 20th century. He and his wife resided at the Waterlane Farm on Lake Street in Shrewsbury – the very same street where the new Beal School is built.

"Major Beal was instrumental in the establishment of the U.S. Physician Reserve Corps, and when World War I began he volunteered on one of the first Red Cross ships to go to England, where he served at a hospital in 1914 prior to the United States entering the conflict. Later in the war, while serving in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in France in 1918, his life was cut short by a bomb."

The first high school in Shrewsbury, which opened in 1922 on Maple Avenue, was named after Beal, Sawyer said.

"These changes of use and now replacement by this new, state-of-the-art elementary school have been representative of the evolution of public education in Shrewsbury," said Sawyer. "While the new Major Howard W. Beal School is in a different location, Shrewsbury is proud to continue the recognition of Major Beal’s legacy by maintaining the school name in his honor."

Beal Elementary currently enrolls 316 students with student teacher ratio of 15:1, according to niche.com.

Beal School provides a collegial atmosphere and engages the whole community by providing an array of services such as:

• Volunteering in the classroom, school office and media center
• Accompanying children on field trips
• Providing reading, writing and math enrichment for the classroom
• Serving on the PTO or School Council
• Upgrading and maintaining the playground, garden and greenhouse.

Family and community members are welcome to attend the scheduled sing-a-long, on Fridays during the course of the year.