Originally located at 40 Mill Street, directly adjacent to Trinity Church, the Mill Street School no longer stands. It was opened to students on March 26, 1827 and served as Newport's first public school in over fifty years (1). The first plans for the school were offered up by William H. Vernon, who deeded his property on 40 Mill Street to the city of Newport for the purpose of building a free school in 1826. William Guild accepted the position of Mill Street's first schoolmaster on May 8, 1827, and his initial salary was $600 a year, but he was responsible for providing books and stationary for his pupils, which he would pay for out of his salary (2). On June 3, 1828, only a year later, the school committee hired Miss Golding to lead the girl's classroom. The committee ensured that Golding would uphold the same standards that Guild was using for the male students. Typical subjects of learning at the Mill Street School included arithmetic, geography, reading, writing, and grammar. Female students, however, also learned to sew and create samplers (3). It is important to note that when the Mill Street School opened, only white students were only permitted to enroll.

The Simeon Potter House, located at 37 Marsh Street in the Point Neighborhood, was built in 1723. The home's namesake, Simeon Potter, was born in Bristol, Rhode Island in 1720 and participated in the Revolutionary burning of the Gaspee (1). Potter was vastly wealthy due to his participation in the transatlantic slave trade. He used some of his wealth for the purpose of promoting education in Newport. At the age of seventy-five, Potter gifted his home on Marsh Street to the Trustees of Long Wharf, which was an organization dedicated to providing educational opportunities for Newport's students in the years following the American Revolution. The Simeon Potter House was gifted with the intent of educating young boys; alongside his work with the Trustees of Long Wharf, Potter similarly donated funds for the opening of a public library in Bristol (2).

(1) Deborah Mulcare, "The Potter School," The Green Light, Bulletin of the Point Association 51, no. 2 (2006), 8; Louise Sherman, "Simeon Potter - Pirate - Patriot - Philanthropist," The Green Light, Bulletin of the Point Association 7, no. 3 (July 1963), 5.

(2) Mulcare, "The Potter School," 8; Kit Hammett, "The Trustees of Long Wharf," The Green Light, Bulletin of the Point Association 29, no. 4 (August 1984), 9.

(3) Hammett, "The Trustees of Long Wharf," 9.

(4) Sherman, "Simeon Potter," 6.

(5) Mulcare, "The Potter School," 8.

(6) Ibid.

The Kay School, also known as the Trinity Church Schoolhouse, is located on the corner of Mary Street and School Street. The present building was agreed upon by the church council in April of 1796 for the purpose of schooling ten young boys in the subjects of mathematics, reading, and writing (1). A lease of 999 years was settled on the property, and the rent amounted to three hundred silver dollars per year; this profit was used to support the Kay School (2). Prior to the construction of the present building, the former Kay School occupied the site. By the turn of the nineteenth century, however, the building was falling into disrepair, hence the church council's plans to erect an entirely new building on Nathaniel Kay's estate (3).

(1) George Champlin Mason, Annals of Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island (Philadelphia: The Evans Printing House, 1890), 208.

(2) John Hattendorf, Semper Eadem: A History of Trinity Church in Newport 1698-2000 (Newport, RI: Trinity Church, 2001), 153.

(3) Ibid., 158.

(4) Mason, Annals of Trinity Church, 220.

(5) Ibid., 226.

(6) H. N. Jeter, Historical Sketch of Shiloh Baptist Church (Newport: B.W. Pearce, 1891), 11. 

Located at 47 Division Street, the Peter Bours House served as a place of education for Black youth from at least 1772 to 1799, which was operated by Mary Brett. At the time, Brett's school was associated with Trinity Church, nestled in between Spring Street and Thames Street. It was here where Brett taught Black children to read, write, and sew. According to the Newport Mercury in 1773, roughly thirty students were taught by Brett at one time (1). During the winter months, the attendance at this school dropped considerably, most likely because those who were enslaved were kept home; some enslavers chose not to spend the money nor the time acquiring firewood for the school (2).