page_title: Dedham Public Schools
section_title: First public school
hierarchical_section_title: Dedham Public Schools / History / First public school
caption_attribution_description: English: Stone plaque marking the site of the first public school in America. Located on First Church Green in Dedham, MA.
context_page_description: The Dedham Public School System is a PK–12 graded school district in Dedham, Massachusetts. It is the oldest public school system in the United States.
context_section_description: Other schools, including Boston Latin School and the Town of Rehoboth have claimed to be the first public school, but Dedham's was the first to be supported exclusively by tax dollars. On June 25, 1894, the Great and General Court passed a Resolve to erect a monument commemorating the site of the first public school. Lt. Governor Roger Wolcott led a committee that heard the claims of several cities and towns, including the presentation made by Dedham's Don Gleason Hill and Rev. Carlos Slafter. 
  Wolcott's committee presented Dedham's claims to Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge and the Governor's Council. The governor and council, in accordance with the law, then confirmed that Dedham's was the first. On June 17, 1898, a monument was unveiled on the grounds of the First Church Green, near the site of the original schoolhouse. Hill gave an address in which he noted the school stood in proximity to several important religious, civil, and historical buildings and monuments.
caption: Stone plaque marking the site of the first public school in America.  Located on First Church Green in Dedham, MA.
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