REUNION COMMITTEE - Wanda Atkins, Denise Jones, Corlis Melchoir, Warren Chase & Tonya Odom JAMAICA PLAIN HIGH SCHOOL always claimed as its inception date that of the Eliot School (1689). Its independent existence began in the Village Hall in 1855. The Eliot School was the school from the colonial period through the period of the Town of West Roxbury until after the annexation with the City of Boston (1873). Yet its administration under a private board of Trustees made for difficulties with public education offered by the City of Boston, and the systems parted ways with the Eliot School, which, under its Trustees, became a showpiece for crafts education. Later, it was re-adopted by the Boston Public Schools. Given this history, JAMAICA PLAIN HIGH SCHOOL always claimed as its inception date that of the Eliot School (1689). Its independent existence began in the Village Hall in 1855. It moved to the fondly remembered site on Elm Avenue in 1868 under the proper name of West Roxbury High School, as a plaque on the building, now a condominium, proclaims. With the demise of the Town of West Roxbury it became Jamaica Plain High School and a new wing was added in 1901. The famed building on Elm Avenue was known for its agricultural department, just as all the high schools in the city were known for their individual specialties. West Roxbury High School came into being again recently when its modern building was constructed off the V. F. W. Parkway near the railroad’s Needham branch. A new Jamaica Plain High was built off Washington Street even more recently. This later building was amalgamated with English High School in a round of economic moves as school population dwindled in the city.
