Princeton Model School
Borough School at 185 Nassau Street
Opened 1858. Closed 1929.
The Princeton Model School opened in 1858. It was Princeton Borough’s first public school for white students.
As a model school, the school’s curriculum was intended to serve as an instructional “model” for teachers-in-training. The school offered primary through advanced “departments,” allowing it to accommodate a wide array of students. Advanced students were tested in eight subjects, including “intellectual arithmetic.” Students of all ages demonstrated what they had learned through recitations, in which they memorized their lessons and recited them before the class.
One hundred students attended the school upon its opening, a number that doubled within the first year. However, only 70% of the Model School’s initial students attended each day, with many absent due to illness, weather, or family hardship. The school initially held morning sessions only, but later expanded to offer a full day program.
The Model School continued to grow over the decades. In 1889, the school opened a large library containing 580 books and posters. The following year, an addition designed by New York architects Karr Poole & Lum was built. It featured a stone porch, play courts, auditorium, bicycle rooms, toilets, heating, and inter-room “speaking tubes.” By 1898, the school housed 450 students, including the first ninth grade class of Princeton High School.
Princeton Model School, 1903. PPS Archives.
After the first Model School building burned down in 1870, the Board of Education upgraded to this two-story stucco structure with period Italianate detail.
A class at the Princeton Model School. PPS Archives.
Closing Exercises of the Princeton Model School program, 1879. Historical Society of Princeton.
The Model School ended each year with its “Closing Exercises,” an elaborate display of student talent that featured musical performances and recitations. Prizes, including a punctuality banner, were also awarded in a closing ceremony.
Princeton Model School Class of 1882. Historical Society of Princeton.
By 1879, Princeton Model School graduation photos included Latin mottos. The Class of 1882’s motto was “Labor Omnia Vincit,” meaning “Work Conquers All.”