Jim Calkins was an accidental principal.
In mid-August of 1966, the Board of Education still had not found someone to replace Ray Walch, who resigned after less than a year at Staples High School.
Almost in desperation, they offered the job to the 42-year-old World War II veteran. He had just completed his first year in Westport as an assistant superintendent, after serving as a Norwalk guidance counselor.
The Board of Ed figured he’d be a decent caretaker, while they looked for someone more qualified.
Calkins came in with a mission. He wanted to harness the talents of students and faculty alike, to make Staples “unique.”
He was the right man, at the right time.
Jim Calkins
The massive unrest of the 1960s — the Vietnam War, drugs, the sexual revolution — were all underway when Calkins arrived. While other schools were rocked by change, Calkins charted a different course.
He embraced students — intellectually, emotionally, even literally, with an arm around the shoulder or a hug.
His office door was open to all (though some students bypassed his secretary, and climbed in through an open window). He addressed problems with reasoned discussions and compromise, rather than one-sided edicts. He said he loved his students, and they loved him back.
In January of 1967 — less than half a year after arriving — the Board of Ed made Calkins’ position permanent.
Over the next 8 years, he made quite a mark on Staples. He abolished study halls, and instituted an open campus. He liberalized the dress code; girls could now wear slacks, and boys blue jeans. He encouraged experimental courses, and championed a Student Lounge.
Principal Jim Calkins often called school-wide meetings in the gym. He stands far right in this 1970 photo, nearly engulfed by students.
Calkins’ most notable accomplishment may have been the Staples Governing Board. A toothless student council was out; taking its place was a unique body with 10 students (4 seniors, 3 juniors, 3 sophomores) and an equal number of adults (3 administrators, 7 teachers).
It was not an advisory board. The SGB had real power — over curriculum, school rules, use of the building — everything, in fact, except staffing and budgets.
The principal had a “suspensive veto.” But it could be overridden by a 75% vote of the SGB.
In 1970, the SGB debated removing special dress codes for athletic teams. Junior Greg Katz (standing left) wanted to try out for the baseball team without cutting his hair. The SGB affirmed that right. Katz went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
The Staples Governing Board drew national attention — both positive and negative.
The SGB lasted only a few years. It was weakened when Calkins took a sabbatical leave during the 1972-73 school year; it survived only a few years after he resigned in 1975, for personal and professional reasons (including earning his doctorate).
But in his near decade as Staples principal, Jim Calkins made an enormous impression on the school, and everyone in it.
Jim Calkins died in 2006. This year, his son Michael finally cleared out his family’s home.
Not long ago, Michael gave me a gift: a large box, filled with Staples memorabilia, his father’s Ph.D. dissertation, national magazine and newspaper stories about the SGB, and more.
The clippings, Staples Players programs and other items in the box were interesting. But what was most compelling were dozens of letters Calkins had saved.
They came from grateful students, parents, teachers and town leaders. They were intensely personal, filled with cherished anecdotes.
A typical note to Mr. Calkins, from 2 students.
Today, very few people thank others — let alone a school principal. If we do, it’s by email. Unless we print that out, it’s gone forever.
But these letters — written in distinctive handwriting, or typed by a secretary; on flowered notecards and lined paper; meticulously saved, over half a century ago — tell a remarkable story.
I have skipped on Senior Skip Day since I was a soph. But this year was different. We thought that maybe we could prove to you that we appreciate all the things you have done for us. It isn’t so bad to go to school. Thank you for everything Mr. Calkins. You’re the greatest.
I would like to express my wholehearted thanks to you for allowing the girls to wear slacks during exam week. It made many of us feel much more comfortable than we could be dressed in regular school clothes, especially during times of such intense pressure.
My wife and I want to express our gratitude and thanks for appearing as a character witness for my son and the other 4 boys on Tuesdays. Our lawyer felt you alone turned the tide, resulting in jail sentences being suspended. It’s been a long 3 months, but if our son becomes a better man because of this, and you, it’s all been worth it.
You have taught me how to live. You have shown me what I’ve got and how to use it. I am proud to say “I go to Staples High School.” I hope you will say one day of me, “I am proud he went here.”
(“06880” is your source for all things Westport — including history. If you appreciate an occasional look back — or anything else we post — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
I thought Mr Calkins was great, honest and fair… during my Staples years I tested the patience of every person in an authoritative position, to put it mildly… he was just a good guy!
In the midst of several current (and to use the somewhat overused term “existential”) topics of discussion affecting the fundamental quality of Westport education being aired on this blog and in the community, I think a highly relevant question for Westport educators, administrators and PARENTS to ask themselves is: “What would Jim Calkins do?” I can speak with authority and personal experience when I say: “He would very likely start by listening to the student(s) and then applying “The Golden Rule.” In my case, at a time of real distress, he listened when no one else in authority at Staples (or at home) “back in the day” did and I wouldn’t be able to cite: “SHS ‘70” after my “FULL, REAL NAME” if he hadn’t. He was a wonderful man and a better educational administrator never lived. He was exactly what Staples needed at that time.
We grew-up when the “times were a changing”.
Fabulous article, Woogie
There must be quite a story behind the “thank you” for the character witness Mr. Calkin provided for the 5 boys. I wonder if it had anything to do with the rash of mailbox bashings that were rampant in the early 70’s. Or was it something else?
A lot more severe.
Ms. Barnhart..probably not a mailbox incident. A quick guess would be an incident/prank that had to do with the old Westport Bank and Trust and a “Bonnie and Clyde” theme. lol. You can google it. Those were fun and interesting times. Eric and Bruce nailed it with their comments.
In my three years at Staples I never once spoke to him, never interacted. The amazingly thing was I felt his genuine care and concern for ALL 2000 of us. I will always remember his heartfelt intercom announcement one morning, sharing his father’s death from smoking, lovingly pleading with us to stop. A very genuine and rare human being indeed.
I am so touched by this remembrance of Mr. Calkins. He meant a great deal to me at Staples and was one of my key supporters. I was one of the student creators of the SGB—he encouraged us to think big, think differently and create something new. And, he saw us, saw what was important, saw this time as a pivotal time in the culture. I was one of those who popped into his office many times. He was one of those people who taught me strength and I dare say, at a time when women were “vice presidents” or “secretaries” of organizations, told me that I could be anything I wanted to be. Thank you for keeping his legacy front and center.
In my junior or senior year, Staples started a pottery program. At the time, the dress code prohibited young women from wearing pants. Those of us using the potter’s wheel would have to change into pants for pottery class, then change back. A group of us met with Mr. Calkins about the inequality inherent in the dress policy, causing female students to have about 10 minutes less of class time. Combined with setup and cleanup that is part of throwing pottery, our actual time on the wheel was shortened considerably.
He not only listened, he championed changing the dress code, supporting the SGB and successfully presenting our case to the Board of Ed.
The late 60’s was a wonderful, exciting and turbulent time. I don’t want to imagine what those years would have looked like without Mr. Calkins at the helm. He understood and appreciated the culture of the time. He was truly a gift to Westport.
I remember Mr Calkins as a decent and fair guy. He really cared about the students and seemed to have a sense of humor. He was the leader of a fantastic group of teachers back then that I never fully appreciated at the time. We were lucky to have them.
Dan: Very pleased to be able to join in this remembrance and appreciation of Jim Calkins. The times certainly were a changin’, and Jim was one of the great voices and visons of those times in Westport. He made it his business to understand, he lead rather than commanded, when the windows shook and the walls rattled, he opened the hallways and cleared the doors, swam with us in the rising waters, led the losers to winnning, heeded the call, lent his hand to building the new road, building the new order and our better present.
He was an effective leader – ground breaking visionary ideas but it worked because of his integrity and his genuine compassion
I loved that Mr. Calkins let us wear pants during the winter of our sophmore year. We walked between buildings back then, and I remember it was a cold, snowy winter. Spring came and he suggested we go back to skirts, but we never did! I will never forget how liberating it was to wear out bell bottom jeans! He was the best!
Empowering a balanced group of students, administrators, and faculty with authority over key school functions is both innovative and forward-thinking. I wasn’t aware Staples had implemented something like this in the past. Does the Collaborative Team still exist? If so, does it include student members, and what specific authority does it hold?
Could SGB have failed because students had equal representation as adults? Rather than a 50/50 split, what would it look like to have a quasi-judicial group composed of equal parts students, faculty, and administrators (e.g., 3-3-3), serving as an independent regulatory body to evaluate proposed initiatives and assess existing systems (rather than creating policy)? How exciting and educational would it be for a group like this to have *real* authority over matters with which schools typically don’t involve students??
As I recall, I don’t think we gave them much choice 😎
(but Mr. Calkins turned it into a win-win).
Great article! Great comments! Great school! Thank you Mr. Calkins!
I have a lump in my throat and my eyes are welling up. Thank you for this beautiful story. Westport has been blessed with many exceptional educators, but this one really stands out. I would argue to bringing back the School Governing Board. It would be a great way to honor his legacy and its just a great idea.
It was such an incredible privilege to be a student at Staples when Jim Calkins was principal. I truly believe he made it the best public high school in the nation at that time. And the freedom he gave us stood me in good stead in college, when classmates, unaccustomed to being given free rein, went a little crazy. Those of us who had been lucky enough to go to Staples already knew how to handle ourselves.
Times were changing outside the campus at Staples but much was the same within the California settling off North Avenue in the school year of ’65-’66. Strict dress code, smoking outside the cafeteria had just been banned and a seemingly tough love approach to administering under Principal Walch. Along with his Vice Principals Jacobson and Murphy, who were both task masters, the excellent and often fun teachers were our escape. And lunches in Vista. And the submarine races at Compo.
My Mom, Sally Deegan, was the badass secretary “keeper of the gate”…. She adored him. They were dear friends until his passing.
class of 71. As sophomores no hair below the collar no sideburns below your ear. you had to have a shirt with a collar, no T-shirts no blue jeans and you had to wear socks junior year that was all gone. Time are changing it was pretty flexible. Going to class every day, was fun. on a Friday night. It would not be unusual to be drinking behind the school. You do that today you get expelled Staples Was an experience . God bless our friends that went before us
was Class of ’69. “Mr. Calkins” was an amazing man, teacher, administrator. He respected kids’ needs and perspectives. I do recall, sadly, that the kids sometimes took advantage of his good nature. He trusted the kids to behave responsibly, but we often did not. He deserved better…and I think we knew that…and it was another lesson for us.