Julia Astram

Staff Writer

It is hard to believe that our well-known Joseph A. Foran High School was once a patch of trees before it was built in 1973. Before Foran was built, the two high schools in Milford were, our now cross town rival Jonathan Law and Milford High, which is now known as the Parsons Government Complex located in the center of downtown Milford.

The reason why Foran High School was built is because the two other high schools were overcrowded. Before Foran opened there were actually two shifts of school at Milford High.  A group of students came in the morning, went to school and went home, and then another group came in for the afternoon.

Foran High School is named after Joseph Anthony Foran who was the superintendent of the Milford School System from 1945-1967. The Foran Lion Mascot is named Brutus in honor of Joseph A. Foran’s grandfather, Brutus P. Foran. Joseph Foran was born in 1906 in Meriden, Connecticut. He was born the son of John Valentine Foran and Anna Marie O’Connor. Along with being superintendent, he began his career as a high school civics teacher. Mr. Cummings, Assistant Superintendent of the Milford School District, was among many people who Joseph A Foran had an impact on. Mr. Cummings said, “I knew Mr. Foran only slightly and that was after he retired. He worked hard to build a school system that created opportunities for students.  In that way his work has had a profound impact on my work in Milford.” Joseph Foran was an educator dedicated to doing the best for students.

In a way, when Foran was first built it applied different trial tactics by the Milford school system to see the benefits of certain programs. For a number of years all of the high schools were open campuses. This meant that the students came to school and left as they wished, whether it was for lunch or other reasons.

Mr. Cummings, who started at Foran High in 1976, said, “Sadly there were some accidents and students were hurt, so the open campus was abolished.”

Also, Foran adopted a new modified schedule when it first opened. This meant that classes ran at different lengths of time. This gave the students a lot of options.  Mr. Cummings added, “There were study centers with coaches in all of the main lobbies of the second and third floor.”

Foran High School has changed and improved throughout the years since 1973 when it was built. Our school will keep improving and will definitely “Strive and Thrive”.