Centuries and Education

  • The Ursuline Academy of New Orleans is founded. A Catholic school for girls sponsored by Sisters of the Order of Saint Ursula, it is "the oldest continuously operating school for girls and the oldest Catholic school in the United States."

    Founded in 1727 by the Sisters of the Order of Saint Ursula, Ursuline Academy of New Orleans enjoys the distinction of being both the oldest, continuously-operating school for girls and the oldest Catholic school in the United States.
  • - St. Matthew Lutheran School, one of the first Lutheran "parish schools" in North America, is founded in New York City by Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, after whom Muhlenberg College in Allentown Pennsylvania is named.

    The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Matthew is the oldest Lutheran Church in the North American continent and in all of the Americas.
  • The Revolutionary War begins.

    Early in the morning about 700 British march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen .Suddenly, a shot was fired from an undetermined gun and the war began.
  • The University of Georgia becomes "America's first state-chartered university"

  • The U. S. Constitution is ratified by the required number of states.

    the constitution became the official framework of the government of the united states of America when new hampshire became the ninth of 13 states ratify it
  • James Pillans invents the modern blackboard.

    he became Professor of Humanity & Laws in the University of Edinburgh. He published a number of books and papers on geography and education
  • The state of Massachusetts passes a law requiring towns of more than 500 families to have a public high school open to all students.

    a Massachusetts law makes all grades of public school free to all.
  • The African Institute (later called the Institute for Colored Youth) opens in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Now called Cheyney University, it the oldest institution of higher learning for African Americans.

    Cheyney University was established on February 25, 1837, through the bequest of Richard Humphreys, making it the first institution of higher learning for African Americans.
  • The first state funded school specifically for teacher education (then known as "normal" schools) opens in Lexington, Massachusetts.

    three young women reported to Lexington, Massachusetts, with hopes of attending the first state funded school specifically established for public teacher education
  • The 13th Amendment is passed, abolishing slavery.

    The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
  • The Association of American Universities is founded to promote higher standards and put U.S. universities on an equal footing with their European counterparts.

    Association of American Universities is composed of America’s leading research universities. AAU’s 65 research universities transform lives through education, research, and innovation.
  • All states have laws providing funds for transporting children to school.

    school busing, has become one of the most important segments of the American educational system.
  • Recognizing "the need for a permanent legislative basis for a school lunch program," the 79th Congress approves the National School Lunch Act.

    The program was established as a way to prop up food prices by absorbing farm surpluses, while at the same time providing food to school age children.
  • The ACT Test is first administered.

    ACT’s work over the past six decades to help individuals understand their current readiness and see the areas where they need to improve has helped millions of students and career professionals define and achieve success.
  • First grader Ruby Bridges is the first African American to attend William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. She becomes a class of one as parents remove all Caucasian students from the school.

    Ruby Bridges was six when she became the first African American child to integrate a white Southern elementary school.
  • Less than one year after the Virginia Tech massacre, former graduate student Stephen P. Kazmierczak kills five and wounds 17 in a classroom at Northern Illinois University. He later takes his own life.

    The Northern Illinois University shooting was a school shooting that took place on February 14, 2008, at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Steven Kazmierczak opened fire with a shotgun and three pistols in a crowd of students on campus, killing five students and injuring 17 more people, before fatally shooting himself.
  • New Texas social studies curriculum standards, described by some as “ultraconservative,” spark controversy. Many fear they will affect textbooks and classrooms in other states..

    the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks,
  • The School District of Philadelphia announces on June 7 that it will cut nearly 4000 employees, including 676 teachers as well as many administrators and guidance counselors.

    School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Dr. William Hite, Jr. said the layoffs are a result of severe budget cuts necessary to keep the nation's eighth-largest school district financially sound.
  • William Glasser, author of more than two dozen books including Choice Theory and Schools Without Failure, dies at age 88.

    William Glasser was born on May 11, 1925 in Ohio. He attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where he studied clinical psychology, earning his BS and MA, and finally his MD in psychiatry in 1953. Glasser passed away in his home on August 23, 2013.
  • On August 21, a federal judge in Texas signs a temporary injunction allowing schools to opt out of the above transgender bathroom directive.

    The temporary injunction signed by Judge Reed O'Connor follows a challenge to President Barack Obama's directive by 13 states and applies nationwide. The injunction was passed the day before many students go back to school.