Description
This photograph is of the West Peru Grammar School as it looked when it was built in 1937. The school contained all eight grades plus the kindergarten, for which there were three teachers and a teacher/principle.
The school was built in 1936, and the first school day began January 6, 1937. Once the West Peru Grammar School was open other area schools began to close and send their students to West Peru. From 1938 to 1942 all seven of the other town schools closed.
Over the next few decades the school was enlarged several times to meet the needs of the growing student population. In 2004, Peru merged with Dixfield, Canton and Carthage, in School Area District (SAD) # 21.
That same year it was agreed that a new school would be built in Peru to house the kindergarten and first through fifth grade classes for all of the towns in the district. Between 2006 and 2008 the West Peru Grammar school transitioned to an elementary school while the new Dirigo Elementary School was being built.
At the end of the 2008 school year, the West Peru Elementary School was closed and became owned by the town of Peru. In 2010 the building was turned over to the "Friends of the Old Peru School" to become a community center with a wide variety of activities.
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