[2] 1901–1929, the period of great development The school system began a thirty-year building program at the beginning of the 20th century that continued until the Depression.
Teaching pupils proper “habits and attitudes” to overcome the influence of “home and the streets” began to be considered a necessary adjunct to academic instruction, as the schools took up the charge to socialize students from diverse cultures to the American way of life.
As schools adopted the industrial model of organizational efficiency; the instructional emphasis swung away from oral recitation and widening pupils’ perceptions of the world around them toward “scientific” organization through measurement of intelligence with standardized I.Q.
The intent was to produce young adult workers who possessed a standardized skills foundation and an understanding of American cultural ethics.
At that time, over 70% of the students left high school without graduating and it was felt that an intermediate, vocational program was needed to better prepare the majority for adult life.
Although in 1930, the district went ahead with a commitment to provide “modern” instructional aids by purchasing four “moving picture” machines for $700 and spending $1,000 on a district-wide film library, by 1932, all employees were taking salary cuts to cover school costs.
Noting that he was opposed to seeing the children of Poughkeepsie “constrained on the North Hamilton Street site for the next 50 years”, a representative from the State Education Department recommended that a new “modern” high school, similar to the recently completed Arlington High School, be built on Forbus Street, with Memorial Field as its grounds.
In 1944–1945, the State Education Department mandated that school districts prepare “Post-War Plans” for anticipated peacetime expansion.
The State Education Department granted reluctant approval for the request, but continued to encourage the district to build a new facility.
During this time period, the board passed many resolutions of intent to acquire property in a variety of locations for the construction of a new high school.
In the fall of 1953, the Chamber endorsed construction of a new high school on the Forbus Street/Memorial Field Site arid promised to put the power of its membership behind obtaining voter approval for the plan.
The age of Sputnik In the mid-1950s, the State Education Department issued another mandate; the necessity of creating 7th and 8th grade centers.
1960–1969, the turbulent 1960s The 1960s began as a period of relative calm, with the district satisfied by the new high school, administration building and the two 7/8 centers.
Teachers’ associations increased in strength during this time period and demanded negotiated grievance procedures, sick leave pay and other employee benefits.
The board, however, began to find that the constitutional limitation on school taxes severely constrained its ability to bargain.
During this time period, the district began to apply for and receive federal desegregation grants to offer special programs in the Middle and elementary schools.
1975–1988 Urban renewal continued to change city demographics during the 1970s, as the placement of numerous low-income housing projects created a large influx of minority students in the Clinton, Morse and Franklin elementary schools.
Major structural renovations were made at the elementary level, with new gymnasiums and cafeterias added to a number of the schools.
Teachers’ unions and other employee organizations continued to grow in strength, demanding salary and benefit increases that required the district to use all available means for taxing above the constitutional limitation.
By the end of the 1970s, the district was again in a period of fiscal crisis, precipitated primarily by the Levittown court case, which closed a loophole in the finance law that allowed small city school districts to tax above their constitutional tax limits to cover the costs of employee benefits.
To demonstrate that the district was taking all possible measures to trim costs, the two oldest elementary schools, Smith and Franklin, were closed in the spring of 1979.
During this same time, the district began plans to apply, for federal funds to create elementary magnet schools.
The late 1970s and early 1980s saw a return to interest in raising educational standards, providing curriculum continuity, addressing instructional basics and improving test scores.
Increasingly rigorous State and Federal legislation regarding services to handicapped students led to the creation of extensive and expensive special education programs.
Computer programs were established in recognition of the emerging role of technology, and the Middle School Media Center, which had languished in a state of disrepair during the late 1970s, was again made operational.
By the middle of the 1990s, the district’ enrollment had grown by almost 1000 over the 1980 statistics, and the elementary schools were having difficulty finding space to house students.
During the 1990s as well, the district saw a dramatic increase in the Hispanic population, as many immigrants from villages in Oaxaca, Mexico made their way to Poughkeepsie.
The first decade of the new century As the 2000s began, the district was continuing to experience increasing enrollments and declining classroom space.