Gotwals Elementary School in Norristown was named after the man who championed quality education and implemented and achieved many high educational standards in the town’s schools, writes Russell Rubert for The Times Herald.

Joseph K. Gotwals, who served as Norristown Borough Schools Superintendent, is credited for being almost solely responsible for the long reputation of excellence attached to the public schools of Norristown.

Gotwals was raised in Lower Providence where he attended the local Common schools, the beginning of the Public School System which had not yet been established.

He then entered a private school a few miles above Norristown and after having passed his teacher’s exam at just 20 years old, he became a teacher at a school in Silver Creek.

He returned to Norristown in 1860, where he served as principal at two schools before he was appointed Superintendent of Norristown Borough Schools in 1872.

Under his administration, the schools were reorganized. More teachers were hired, and modern methods of teaching were introduced.

Read more about Joseph K. Gotwals in The Times Herald.

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