Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

My dad graduated from Somerville High School in 1938, my mom in 1944, my sister in 1970, and I was in the class of 1971. My family did 12 years of serious time at SHS. I say that because even though we still managed to have the time of our lives in high school, the teachers were tougher and the rules were stricter.

Looking at the gaping empty space where once there were classrooms, teachers, students and memories is eerie, to say the least. I loved my Somerville High School years. The great music teachers, and theater programs made up for the few, shall I say, mean (bully) teachers. Don’t worry, no names, but some of you can also name a few.

Floods of memories come flowing back starting with my first day of high school in September of 1968. Imagine David Cassidy in his Partridge Family heyday and that was me. The long hair, the crazy shirts and the bellbottom trousers, check, check and check. There were only a very few of us “hippies” at Somerville High School in 1968. There were specific groups or cliques like The Rats and The Studs, (leather jackets, greased back hair) the Hippies, and those referred to as Collegiate. (the preppie look.) I had friends in each group.

I remember my sister Christine, who was a a year older than me, taking me to Harvard Square to a place called “Truc” to buy my first pair of bellbottoms. Wearing bellbottoms in high school back then was daring to say the least. There was a lot of weird looks, snickers, and bullying that went along with dressing and looking differently. So it was pretty much the same as it is today.

But I had a secret weapon, namely my aforementioned sister. She and her friends, most of whom were former St. Clements girls, kept an eye on me and my cousin Carol up there. After doing eight or more years of hard labor with the nuns, Somerville High was a piece of cake.

The dress code was crazy. The boys’ hair couldn’t touch their collar in the back. No dungarees (or jeans as you kids call them now) and the girls couldn’t wear slacks, only skirts. Long story short, we protested and walked out of school. Legend has it that I commandeered the school’s public address system and announced that we were walking out of class!We made the TV news and all the newspapers. We were quite spunky back then!

There were many great teachers at SHS but also some that were a bit too big for their britches. Some were only a few years older than me. They would never get away with their intimidating tactics today. Thankfully, the dedicated teachers outweighed the bad ones. When I started as a substitute teacher in the early 80’s things had changed for the better.

It will be exciting to see what the new high school looks like but its what’s inside the building that’s important. New walls, new memories. We are lucky to be living in a city with decent teachers, and great kids.

I’m always extremely proud to say I am a graduate (and former teacher) of Somerville High School. I’m glad they are keeping some of the old buildings while adding the new parts. It’s just like the people of Somerville. A nice mixture of the old and the new.And you kids can thank my generation for doing away with the dress code!

From peace signs and long hair to piercings and blue hair. Wave high.