For more than three decades, Center School was synonymous with one name: Principal Rose Bowman, who served the Mattapoisett schools for over 35 years before retiring in 2022. Her send-off said everything about the place — the town organized a surprise farewell parade, a police escort winding past the school while students lined the corner of Barstow Street with homemade signs, chanting her name. That kind of devotion doesn't happen at a school families merely tolerate. Today, under principal Dr. Linda Ashley, Center School carries the same identity forward: a close-knit, child-centered community where staff know families by name and neighbors still turn out for one another. It's a small school with a long memory — and exactly the sort of roots buyers hope to put down when they choose a town like Mattapoisett.