Just the Facts: Edwards Middle School

The Clarence R. Edwards Junior High School opened in 1931, the same year its namesake -- Major General Clarence Ransom Edwards -- died. The Edwards School was one of only two new schools built in Charlestown during the first half of the 20th century -- the Oliver Holden Elementary School on Pearl Street, built in the late 1920s, was the other. (To read a fuller history of the Edwards School, click here.)

• Where is it?
  30 Walker Street       

• When was it built?
  1931

• Who built it?
  J. H. Gray Co., Architects

• What was it built for?
  A school for neighborhood children.

• Why was it built?
  There were not enough schools  in Charlestown.

• How was it built?
  The brick Georgian Revival building is divided into segments: there is a  ‘three-bay center pavilion’ where the main entrance is and ‘nine-bay flanking segments and 5-bay wings’. The central portion facing Walker Street is the most interesting part of the building. The stairway to the main door is framed in Tuscan columns. Above the main door is a palladian window.

• What are the future plans for the structure?
  It is a thriving school. The Clarence Edwards currently has an enrollment of about 500 students. Monday through Thursday classes run until 4:15.  There is early dismissal on Fridays.  The web-site Local School Directory reports a student to teacher ratio of 13 to 1.