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!)
