Newtown High School

Construction was delayed until 1920 by the First World War, by a February fire in the Superintendent's drafting rooms that destroyed the entire set of drawings, and by problems with the contractor. Ground was broken on July 1, 1920 and the cornerstone laid on December 2, 1920. The wing opened in September 1921 with fifteen additional classrooms, five laboratories, a music room, a study hall, a lecture hall, two gymnasiums, offices and an 1,100 seat auditorium named Dillingham Hall, for James Darius Dillingham, principal from 1894 through the mid-1930s. Two further wings admitted students on February 2, 1931, adding thirty-five classrooms, another gymnasium and specialty rooms including one called the "girls' corrective training room." LPC's 2003 report describes a student body of 4,500 and more than 200 teachers.