What's in a Name? -- Wiley's School History
A fiction writer, a journalist, a lawyer, a Presbyterian minister, Calvin H. Wiley was also an educator. In fact, in the 1850s, Calvin H. Wiley became the South's foremost public educator. His work forever bettered the public school system. And today, our school proudly bears his name.
Calvin H. Wiley's Rich History
In 1851, Calvin H. Wiley published the North-Carolina Reader as the first of a series of textbooks prepared for use in the public schools. Containing a brief history of the state, political and oratorical exercises, and chronological and historical tables, the series was "a work designed to familiarize the minds of the young with the character, history and resources of their own well-favored father-land."
In 1852, the legislature created the Office of Superintendent of Common Schools and appointed Calvin H. Wiley to fill this position. As the first N.C. Superintendent, Wiley worked at reorganizing and bettering the educational system of the state.
Over the years, Wiley continued to promote the system of which he was now a symbol. To get people excited about the schools, Wiley gave tours through the state and started an educational campaign throughout North Carolina. Wiley's leadership built up the professional status of teaching. His annual reports to the legislature helped to improve the schools by facilitating public discussion of their conditions.
Wiley led the formation of an educational magazine and the State Teachers Association. He also was instrumental in bringing women into the profession of teaching. At the time, it was commonly thought that women teachers could not control classes. But Wiley believed otherwise and welcomed women into the classroom. His various efforts increased the number of teachers and brought up the standard of teaching qualifications.