History - On October 22, 1956, town meetings in Hampden and Wilbraham voted to “provide for the establishment of a regional school district” for the high school students. On July 8, 1958 the name Minnechaug (meaning Land of the Berries) Regional High School was chosen because the land on which the school was to be built was once a blueberry field. It was also decided that the choice of school colors and mascot would be left to the students.

Minnechaug opened its doors on September 9, 1959 to 366 students in grades 9, 10 and 11. Twelfth grade students would finish their high school careers at the Springfield high schools they had been attending; Classical, Commerce, Technical or Trade. Students in grades 8, 9 and 10 selected the school colors of green and white. The first issue of the Smoke Signal came out on September 25, 1959 and held a contest to name a mascot. The December 9, 1959 issue announced that the “falcon” had been selected as the mascot. The first graduating class was 1961 and the first yearbook, the Falcon, was published. Capacity in the original high school was 675 students.

It wasn’t long before overcrowding became an issue and in 1963 an addition (H Hallway) was built which increased student capacity to 1200. A second addition was proposed in 1970 and both towns approved the addition in February 1971. This addition would increase the school capacity to 1800; it added a new cafeteria and a three story academic wing including a new and enlarged media center. The old cafeterias would be converted to classrooms and a cooking area for the Home Economics Department.

The old Minnechaug, with the two additions, served the towns and students until the New Minnechaug was opened for business in August 2012. The new school, as of September 2016, had an enrollment of 1143 with 283 freshmen, 305 sophomores, 271 juniors and 284 seniors. To compare, the class of 1966 had approximately 175 students.

New School - The discussions and planning for upgrading Minnechaug probably went on for 10 years before the decision was made to build a new school. Some may blame lack of maintenance as the reason a new school had to be built, but it is much more complicated than that. Daily wear and tear has an unbelievable impact on schools. Minnechaug was a school building that was constructed in three distinct sections over time and many of the systems in the newer sections were being driven by the original equipment: heating, plumbing, electrical. In addition, it was necessary to overlay the demands of new technology on infrastructure. Laws and building codes required certain upgrades throughout the entire building if you upgrade one item somewhere in the building. These requirements became onerous and expensive, which created problems for desired and necessary repairs. Also, replacement parts for systems in the oldest sections of the building could not easily be found, if at all. Last, although the towns had been very good about approving funding for the school budgets, including major projects like roofing, boilers, etc., some maintenance had to be deferred in order to accommodate other town budget needs. So finally, the decision to build a new school was made by town votes.

Building a new school is not easy when the bureaucratic requirements of a state agency come into play through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (“MSBA”). The new Minnechaug was built using Ashland, MA high school as a model because it had been built and approved for a similar size school community. The new school auditorium seats 750; the building committee wanted a larger auditorium, but the MSBA said no. The pool was a “must” for Minnechaug, but the MSBA said no because it “doesn’t have educational value”. It is not part of model schools. The Regional School Central Office had always been in the high school (remember Mr. Agard’s office off the large cafeteria), but again the MSBA said no.

The new Minnechaug has a pool and the Regional offices are located in the new Minnechaug, but the cost of these items is not factored into the state reimbursement formula. These expenses had to be covered by Hampden and Wilbraham and reflected in their tax assessments. So what does all this mean? The new school cost approximately $67 million, with the MSBA (state) funding $47 million of the total. The towns are responsible for the difference on a pro-rata basis determined by student enrollment from each town. The new school is approximately 249,000 square feet; the old Minnechaug was approximately 283,000 square feet. The new school has solar panels on the roof and there is green focus on all products used in the school. Students attended classes at the old school until the new school was opened. Then the old school was torn down. Significant asbestos abatement work had to be completed before the major destruction and removal of the old school occurred. The only item from the old school that still exits is the original flag pole! Selectmen, teachers, school committee members, student representatives, etc. all participated in the process of building the new school. Teachers even voted on the types of student desks, chairs and other classroom items that would furnish the new school building. Large portions of the new school are air conditioned - offices, some classrooms and computer rooms - but there are still some areas where it was not practical or necessary. There is constant air exchange throughout the building, both supply and return. As you might expect, computers are used in many aspects of classroom instruction, school administration, scheduling, etc. You often hear it said that every student has a phone, but in reality every student has a computer with telephone capability. There are no telephone booths in the new school.

With any new construction, there are always some problems that surface when construction is completed. State building requirements and guideline cause some of the issues, but living with the problems is not insurmountable. The 750 seat auditorium means that you have to have two assemblies to cover the entire student body. The old school had two separate gyms and the new school has one double gym which means that if the entire gym is used for a basketball game, there is no place for a volleyball match. With two separate gyms in the old school this was not an issue. Last, the cafeteria is already deemed to be too small, but the cafeteria gets rave reviews, as it serves about 7 different meal choices each day: a main lunch menu, pizza, hamburgers, yogurt, tacos, salads, etc.

Miscellaneous - This miscellaneous section is added to address all the non-building related questions which were submitted regarding the other aspects of the new Minnechaug.

In the mid ‘90s a major and significant change occurred, which was surrounded by a lot of public comment, debate, school committee discussions, etc. It focused on a change from the rotating class schedule of 7 academic periods, of 45 minute class sessions, and lunch each day, to what is now known as a Block Schedule. The Block Schedule allows for 4 academic blocks of 90 minutes and lunch each day. Instead of having all your primary classes and study halls each day, students would have four classes each semester, kind of like college. If you are involved in band, for example, band would be one of your four classes. Also, for example, if you are a sophomore, you may have a sophomore honors English class first semester and not have another English course until second semester of your junior year. If you want more detailed discussion regarding block scheduling, please ask your tour guide at the reunion.

The core courses are all still in place, but some others like, technology, geology, and environment science have been added. In the industrial arts area, metal shop is gone, but there is now a class available in robotics. Instrumental music and choral programs are alive and well. Advanced placement courses are available in Calculus, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science, Studio Art, US History, Psychology, Literature, Writing, French, Spanish and Latin.

Many of the same Clubs and Activities we enjoyed as students exist today, but as you can imagine there are many more selections reflecting societal changes and student interests. Check out the list of some new options: Black Culture Club, Canine Club, Comic Book Club, Eco Club, Fishing Club, Gay Straight Alliance, Lumberjack Club, Robotics, Snowboarding Club, and Ultimate Frisbee Club. In the area of athletics, there is now an ice hockey team, M/W lacrosse, M/W volleyball, and softball. Men’s gymnastics has been dropped. The athletic field complex is very impressive. All the old trophies, banners and awards are kept in storage at an offsite location.

If you are interested in more information on school programs you can visit the web site for Minnechaug.
This information was compiled by Ron Thomson in response to the questions from classmates, in preparation for the 50th Reunion.