Grundy County Country Schools

8th Grade Exams administered at completion of eighth grade country school

Grundy County has 14 townships with each township having no more than 36 sections. The country schools were typically built in the middle of four square miles or sections. This meant about nine schools per township, which means Grundy County potentially had about 126 country schools. The school location was with the idea that the school children should not have to travel more than two miles to get to school. There are certainly exceptions to this, but this was the general rule. Besides having a district number designation as the name of the school, some of the schools were also known as the land owners name or a nearby landmark.

Education in the country schools was completed at eighth grade. Many "country kids" only had an eighth grade education. This was due in part that a high school was not nearby so it was not easy to get back and forth every day. For those that desired to go on to high school, travel or boarding during the week was needed. Within Grundy County, the only high schools in the early days were Grundy Center or Reinbeck, established in 1891 and 1886, respectively.

In 1997, the Grundy County Genealogical Society did a survey, or inventory, of the country schools in the county at the request of the Iowa State Educational Association. Several persons were involved in researching and determining the location of the little country schools that once dotted the landscape prior to consolidation to the area schools.

Little was said about the "Out Houses". They usually had one for the boys in a far corner and the girls was closer but in a different direction. Needless to say that during the winter the trips were made very quickly. A favorite prank during Halloween was to tip the out houses over or move them to some place where it would get a laugh.

German, Pleasant Valley, Shiloh, and Colfax were heavily settled by Ost(east)friesen Northern Germans who spoke the Platt (low land German) language. The Reinbeck area was heavily settled by Schlesweg/Holstein North Germans and the Dike area by the Danish (North Friesen). Conrad and Grundy Center area had Scot and English.

Ball was a favorite pastime during recess and sometimes played "Ante Ante Over", trying to throw a ball over the school, out house or other object. They played "Captain May I", tag, drop the handkerchief, and in the winter made the "Fox and Geese" circle in the snow.

Each day was started with a reading from the Bible, prayer and the pledge to the Flag. There was also prayer before lunch. Cold lunches were carried in pails or sacks.

The mimeograph machine was very important for the teacher to make copies of work sheets. The lesson would be typed, printed or drawn, on to the purple master, then a handle turned to make copies. Everyone would color the same picture to hang on the wall or tape to the windows for decorations.

SUMMARY of the survey:
- 14 Twp
- 9 schools per Twp.
- about 126 possible schools
- Grundy Co. has 37 homes, 24 being used in other ways
- 63 torn down or fate unknown
- 3 Museums

Beaver Township

Black Hawk Township

Clay Township

Colfax Township

Fairfield Township

Felix Township

German Township

Grant Township

Lincoln Township

Melrose Township

Palermo Township

Pleasant Valley Township

Shiloh Township

Washington Township

Our Schools--The following items of interest we gather from the annual report of the County Superintendent to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the year 1871. There are 2378 children in the county between the ages of 5 and 21 years, of these 1277 are males and 1101 females. 1714 of the 2378 are enrolled in our public schools. There are 187 sub districts in the county, in 82 of which schools have been taught during the past year. There are 132 teachers, 49 males and 83 females. The average compensation paid to male teachers per week is $7.67 and to female teachers per week $6.48. There are 81 school houses in the county valued at $42,192.25, and the value of apparatus in the same is $2,172, making the total value of school property in the county $44,364.25. 137 teachers applied for certificates during the year, of which 54 were males and 83 females. Of the above number 17 males received first-class certificates, and 16 females. 57 males received second class certificates and 64 females received certificates of the same grade. Total number of certificates of both grades issued during the year, 131.

--The Grundy County Atlas (Grundy Center, Iowa), 7 November 1871

Grundy County School Statistics

Figures Taken from County Supt. Adams' Report

From figures taken from County Superintendent's report for last year the valuation of Grundy county school house property is placed at $146,696.

There are 127 school houses in the county.

The past year there were 208 female and 38 male teachers in the county's schools. The average monthly salary paid to male teachers was $56.64 a month. Salary of female teachers averaged $42.09. The average for female teachers was 93 cents and for males $2.90 higher than the previous year.

A total of 5879 books are in the school libraries, making an average of 47 library books for every school.

There are 74 sub-districts and 44 rural independent districts in the county.

The average number of months in each school was eight and one-half for last year.

The average cost of sending each pupil in the county to school the past year was $2.99 a month. The lowest average was $1.81 in Fairfield No. 2 and the highest was $7.00 a month in Fairfield No. 7.

Grundy Center and Reinbeck had the highest enrollment for the year. Grundy's enrollment was 433 and that of Reinbeck 315.

--Grundy County Democrat (Grundy Center, Iowa), 9 September 1909

Condition Of The Rural School Houses In Grundy County Not As Should Be

Some Pertinent and Timely Observations Regarding the Rural School Buildings of Grundy County--All Should Be Modern Buildings

Some Are Modern And Up-To-Date, While Others Are In State Of Sad Dilapidation

The Question of Suitable, Pleasant and Substantial School Buildings in all Rural School Districts Should Be Seriously Considered by School Boards

Does the condition of a school building and the ground around it have any influence upon a pupil and his inclination to remain in school? That question can be answered both in the affirmative, also in the negative, if the condition of Grundy county school houses is any criterian as can be easily seen from the photos of two Grundy school houses published herewith.

Trips over Grundy county have brought to light fact that there are school directors who believe that the boys and girls need the best of surroundings, and again there are those who believe that any old thing is good enough.

That the sentiment seems to favor the modern, up-to-date rural school building is shown by a goodly number of school buildings scattered over the county. As an example of what can be done in the way of giving the children a nice building the Republican is glad to publish in todays paper a likeness of the Drake school in Colfax township. Here is a building well built, up-to-date and of some style of architecture, and it stands as a worthy credit to its school district.

There are several other schools in the county that deserve mention in this respect, among which are Pleasant Valley No. 9, the Merritt school west of Grundy Center and the school two miles north of Beaman. Doubtless there are several other rural schools entitled to special mention but we have no list of them at this time.

In direct contrast to the Drake school building we give also the likeness of another Grundy county school. This photo was taken just last week, since the fall term of school began, and that the unsightliness shown in the photo seems to be the natural condition of this school building that we will state to the editor's positive knowledge, this particular school building has been in this same state of unrepair for more than a year. We will not tell where this school is located but its patrons will have no trouble in recognizing it. The photo fails to show all the sordidness of the school and instead of being an inviting place for the boy or girl, it looks like a spot the child would like to avoid. We do not say this is the worst looking school building in the county because we have not seen all of the buildings. Rather we seleted this particular building because those responsible failed to repair it when the opportunity presented itself.

School buildings that are bad lookers outside are generally worse inside and we have been told by former Grundy county teachers that the inside of some school buildings would be a disgrace to some of the hog pens to be found in Grundy county.

This condition does not apply altogether to Grundy's rural schools for there are some town schools we might mention that would not look very well in a photo but we pass them by to some future time.

In traveling over the county we have come across one thing that is even worse than the bad school buildings for it affects the morals of the boys and girls. We refer to the double closet which is a clear violation of the state law and in this respect the school noted above is a worse offender than in its building in a dilapidated condition. The school laws of Iowa clearly provide for separate closets for boys and girls and stationed on opposite corners of the school yard. In case a double closet is built it must have a brick partition clear up and a tight board fence, at least 30 feet long, between the two closets. Most of the Grundy schools are complying with the law relative to closets but a few are careless.

The Republican has briefly sketched above two existing conditions in the rural schools because it believes the subject a timely one, this being the opening of the school year. The Republican also believes an up-to-date school building is an incentive to the children. In some cases a modern building is impossible for several years to come but there is no excuse for allowing a building to exist in a bad state of repair. With respect to the double closet we believe it to be intolerable and the school directors, or districts, who tolerate such conditions are not only playing with fire but are lowering the moral tone of their children as well as that of the community of tomorrow.

--The Grundy Republican (Grundy Center, Iowa), 11 September 1913, pg 1

County Has Made Fine Progress In Rural Schools

Nearly All Old Buildings Replaced With Modern School Houses
(By D. R. Earl, Co. Supt. of Schools)

Grundy county has eighty-five one-room rural schools. Formerly there were one hundred and ten. The decrease in numbers was caused by the organization of four consolidated schools in the county. The first consolidated school in Grundy county was organized at Beaman. The organization of the school at Beaman was followed by organizations at Dike, Reinbeck and Conrad. All of these consolidated schools have good new modern buildings and maintain approved schools of the highest type. Beaman is the smallest of the consolidated schools and Reinbeck is the largest. The school at Beaman contains the town of Beaman and sixteen sections. This is one of the small schools but it ranks well up in the scale as to the quality of work done. Reinbeck is the largest school in the county and contains the town of Reinbeck and about forty-eight sections. Reinbeck is the second largest consolidated school in the state. The consolidated schools at Dike and Conrad are also of high standard.

The organization of these consolidated schools stimulated the one room rural school by creating a desire for better schools. At least a marked improvement of the school spirit in the one room rural schools dates from the time the above consolidated schools were organized and this school spirit is still growing.

The rural school organization is of two kinds. The rural independent district and the school township organization. All of Grundy county except the townships of Shiloh and Grant is organized into rural independent districts. Shiloh and Grant have district and a township organization.

Forty-five rural districts have built new modern school buildings and many others have remodeled and modernized the old buildings. These new and remodeled buildings have basement furnaces, correct lighting, single adjustable seats, plenty of floor and cubic foot space, and slate blackboards. They are well equipped with globes, maps, charts, reference books and libraries. Many of the schools have victrolas and others have organs and pianos. Uniform text books of the most modern and up to date type are used. All of the teachers have had some training and many have had valuable experience. They work under the state court of study supplemented by a county outline which gives definite instructions as to the specific work to be accomplished.

About one-third of the rural schools that are well housed, well equipped and maintain a high standard in every way are designated as "Standard Schools." They are inspected by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and receive state aid. The money received is used for supplies and needed equipment and is one means of building up the school.

Washington Township Number Four has the only two room rural school. This was a large school and the desire to do the beset thing for the pupils prompted the people of the district to fit up the basement and employ the extra teacher. This has been so successful and the improvement so evident that they have continued up to the present time. This is a standard school and one of the requirements of a standard school is to have three good standard pictures. This is probably the only standard school in the state having the distinction of having a secretary capable of making the required pictures. Mr. E. W. Steffen who is educated in art was the secretary of this school and produced these three fine copies of standard pictures.

Each year the rural schools graduate a large class. Graduation exercises are conducted at the county seat. A good commencement speaker is employed, the rural school choir of from two to three hundred voices sing, and diplomas are presented. These diplomas admit the graduated to any high school in the state and many of them go through high school.

Approximately three thousand pupils are enrolled in the schools of the county and they are about evenly divided as to town and one room schools.

The rural schools have gone a long way along the road to efficiency since the famous author Herbert Quick went barefoot over the sharp prickley prairie grass stubbles to the little box type school house in Number Nine Colfax. This little old building made famous because of the achievement of this barefoot crippled boy who attended school there so many years ago has been displaced by a new modern building and now has a place of honor in the public park at Grundy Center. Yes, Herbert Quick was perhaps the most widely known of any product of the schools of the county today, shall go other boys and girls who may bring credit to the county in the field of literature, art, finance or what not. At any rate these schools will make for better men and women, and a broader, more useful life.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 13 November 1931

Keeping Fresh Rural School Histories

Rural School No. 8 in Colfax township in its first annual school reunion held last Wednesday adopted a custom that should be followed by every school district in the county.

Rural schools have their interesting histories the same as the larger schools in the towns. Preserving this history and building a school fellowship is as important and as necessary to keep a lifelong contact of friends made during tschool days in the small schools as it is in the larger ones. A greater interest attaches to the annual reunions in the rural schools than in the larger schools in the cities and towns. The membership in the smaller school is not so widely scattered by succeeding years.

The history of the average rural school in Grundy county goes back sixty years. The rural school pupils of sixty years ago who are still living are grandfathers and grandmothers now. What more happy occasion can any rural school community provide than an annual reunion of the boys and girls of today, the fathers and mothers of yesterday and the grandfathers and the grandmothers of the day before? Bringing three neighborhood generations in a community together once a year helps to cement a feeling of fellowship between the young, the middle aged and the old that will make it easier and more natural to live up to the principle of the Golden Rule.

We have upwards of 80 rural school districts in the county having histories as interesting as those of Colfax No. 8. They should all arrange to have as happy an annual occasion as the one which was held in this 60 year old Colfax school last Wednesday.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 15 June 1933, pg 2

21 Rural Schools Without Teachers For Next Year

More Rural Schools In The County May Close And Send Pupils To Nearby Town School

There were 66 rural schools in operation in Grundy county during the past year. There were 25 rural school districts in the county last year which were not in operation. Pupils from those districts were transported to schools in nearby towns or they drove back and forth to a town school.

There will be more rural schools in the county closed the coming year. All of the towns in the county having high schools will have a chain of busses to bring boys and girls from rural districts to the schools in town. Grundy Center is the last of these schools to provide bus transportation. Last year the Wellsburg school went into the school transportation business and the consolidated schools which had busses before added to their chain. Not only are all town high schools in the county now equipped to transport rural pupils, but schools in other counties north and west of us on the border line of Grundy county have a chain of busses. With a little addition to their chain of busses, these town schools could absorb all of Grundy county's rural school pupils if the rural school districts were willing. But many of them are not.

At least 45 of the rural schools in Grundy county will operate during the coming year as that number have signed contracts with teachers. Some of the others who have not yet engaged teachers will do so.

There may be from eight to ten fewer rural schools in the county open next year than there were last year.

In Shiloh township, two of the rural schools will close. These schools are in the vicinity of the new Christian Reformed school two miles west of Wellsburg which will open for the fall term. Children whose parents belong to the Christian Reformed church will go to the new school. That will not leave enough in the rural public schools to justify them to remain open, and the pupils who do not wish to go to the new school will be transported to the school at Wellsburg.

In Felix township there was but one rural school operating last year. It was No. 3.

Clay and Black Hawk have no rural schools operating. Grant had but one rural school, in Dist. No. 8. That may remain closed next year.

Two rural schools in Fairfield may remain closed also, which will leave only the rural school at Fredsville in operation the coming year.

The other three northern townships in the county, Beaver, Pleasant Valley and German, are holding the line pretty well in favor of the one-room schools. Each of them have nine schools and nearly all of them were operating last year.

Three Palermo twp. schools were closed last year. Two more may close this year and the pupils will be transported with the new busses the Grundy school will have available in September.

Rural Teacher Pay Shows Biggest Advance
Teachers' salaries everywhere have gone up. The largest percentage of increase has been in the rural schools. In those schools there has been an average advance of more than 100% during the past twelve years. The lowest pay any rural teacher in the county who has signed a contract for next year will receive is $120 a month. And the highest is $175 a month. Twelve years ago some rural teachers were getting only $50 a month.

July School Meetings
All school officers meet in July to close up last year's business and to complete plans for the next year. Decision as to whether to remain open or to close will be made at the July meeting in schools that have not engaged teachers up to that time.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 30 May 1946, pg 1

673 Enrolled In Co. Rural Schools

A total of 673 boys and girls were enrolled in the 54 rural schools of the county during the first month of the present school year. Highest enrollment in any one rural school is in Dist. No. 3 Fairfield where there are 26. Richard Hills is the teacher in this school. The lowest enrollment is 6. There are four schools having 6 enrolled. This is the lowest enrollment permitted for any open school.

Below is given the number of pupils in each of the rural school districts in the county.

Beaver Township
No. 2, 8; No. 3, 14; No. 4, 14; No. 5, 10; No. 7, 7; No. 8, 11; No. 9, 10.

Colfax Twp.
No. 1, 21; No. 3, 13; No. 4, 13; No. 5, 10; No. 6, 6; No. 9, 7.

Holland School, 2 teachers, 42.

Fairfield Twp.
No. 3, 26; No. 9, 16.

German Twp.
No. 1, 13; No. 2, 11; No. 3, 7; No. 4, 9; No. 5, 13; No. 6, 10; No. 7, 11; No. 9, 7.

Lincoln Twp.
No. 3, 14; No. 4, 9; No. 8, 14; No. 9, 10.

Melrose Twp.
No. 2, 11; No. 6, 13; No. 7, 6; No. 8, 16.

Palermo Twp.
No. 3, 9; No. 4, 13; No. 9, 9; No. 10, 9.

Pleasant Valley Twp.
No. 1, 10; No. 2, 6; No. 4, 13; No. 5, 19; No. 6, 6; No. 7, 11; No. 8, 15.

Shiloh Twp.
No. 2, 6; No. 3, 13.

Morrison School, 3 teachers, 50.

Timothy Christian, 2 teachers, 46.

Excelsior Christian, 10.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 12 October 1950, pg 2

Grundy Co. School Board Presidents

Below is a list of the presidents of all of the school boards in the county. School districts where there is no school have a board of directors and a president the same as the schools which are in operation. The school presidents were elected at the re-organization meeting following the election in March.

Beaver Township
Dist. 1--Wm. Fank
Dist. 2--Herman Allspach
Dist. 3--Rieko Johnson
Dist. 4--Harold Henning
Dist. 5--Fred Bruns
Dist. 6--Fred DeVries
Dist. 7--Edwin Dreesman
Dist. 8--Sam Hayes
Dist. 9--Sam Konken

Clay Township
Dist. 1--George Seeman
Dist. 2--Harm Kaput
Dist. 6--Herbert Moeller

Colfax Township
Dist. 1--Benj. Groote
Dist. 2--Gerald Meester
Dist. 3--I. J. Harms
Dist. 4--Richard Neessen
Dist. 5--Richard Neessen
Dist. 6--Henry A. Meester
Dist. 8--Henry Bergman
Dist. 9--Harm G. Hook

Fairfield Township
Dist. 3--Roy Shoemaker
Dist. 4--Clarence Johnson
Dist. 9--Ralph Thuesen

Felix Township
Dist. 3--C. E. Waugh
Dist. 5--Philip McLean
Dist. 6--John Kaput

German Township
Dist. 1--Wm. DeBoer
Dist. 2--Lester Jansonius
Dist. 3--Jake S. Muller
Dist. 4--Harry Beving
Dist. 5--Jake J. DeVries
Dist. 6--Louie Benning
Dist. 7--Conrad Molendorp
Dist. 8--Henry V. Janssen
Dist. 9--Harvey V. Abbas

Grant Twp--Raymond Dufel

Lincoln Township
Dist. 3--Elmer Dieken
Dist. 4--Erick Sonksen
Dist. 5--Joe Noel
Dist. 7--Andrew Groote
Dist. 8--Ralph L. Moore
Dist. 9--Jake Buskohl

Melrose Township
Dist. 1--Homer Diehl
Dist. 2--Andrew Ohling
Dist. 3--Kenneth Cakerice
Dist. 4--E. V. Reece
Dist. 5--J. M. Essig
Dist. 6--H. L. Hertema
Dist. 7--Raymond Katzer
Dist. 8--John Koch

Palermo Township
Dist. 2--Harm Kruger
Dist. 3--Rudy Voss
Dist. 4--Harvey Mackie
Dist. 5--Glen Moats
Dist. 6--H. O. Dirks
Dist. 7--Ben Grimmius
Dist. 8--Harvey Meyer
Dist. 9--J. H. Mast
Dist. 10--Ross Long

Pleasant Valley Township
Dist. 1--John B. Hook
Dist. 2--Markley Renken
Dist. 3--Riebke VanLoh
Dist. 4--Rudolph Junker
Dist. 5--M. A. Woodcock
Dist. 6--LaVerne Schuck
Dist. 7--Albert Eiklenborg
Dist. 8--Henry F. Meester
Dist. 9--Geo. Bessman

Shiloh Twp--Noble DeNeui

Washington Township
Dist. 1--Clayton Ralston
Dist. 2--S. G. Sperry
Dist. 4--Howard David
Dist. 5--Eldon Smoldt
Dist. 6--Vern Saak
Dist. 7--R. W. Schildroth

Timothy Christian--Henry Primus
Excelsior Christian--Jack Limburg
Beaman--D. H. McMartin
Conrad--C. C. Hogle
Dike--Wm. H. Conradi
Grundy Center--Harold Engelkes
Holland--Glenn Dreesman
Morrison--Everett Bowen
Reinbeck--Roger DeWolf
Stout--Ben VanLengen
Wellsburg--R. B. Tjaden

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 3 May 1951, pg 2

Reorganization Plans Underway to Form Community School District
453 Votes Sign Petitions--

The Wellsburg present consolidated school district is to be enlarged if approved by the patrons in six adjoining districts that want to become a part of the Wellsburg district. Also the Wellsburg district will have to approve the proposition.

Following are the districts that have filed petitions for admittance to the Wellsburg district. Part of German No. 5 and all of German No. 6; Pleasant Valley, part of No. 4 and all of No. 8; all of Colfax No. 2 and part of Colfax No. 9.

Petitions were circulated Monday and signed by 453 voters asking for a reorganization of the several districts to form a new Community School district of Wellsburg.

The county board met Monday night with the county superintendent and set the time for the publication of the proposal as of April 8th, calling for a hearing on the formation of a new district and objections to the proposal. The date of the hearing as published in this issue of the Herald is the 19th of April.

The Ackley Community School District was asking that the districts mentioned above in German township be included in their redistricting proposal, but these districts were not favorable to that plan, so they are asking to become a part of the Wellsburg district.

Grundy and Butler county boards of education will meet at Allison Monday to hear petitions concerning the proposal to expand the Parkersburg school into a community district.

Included in this proposal are three rural school districts in Beaver township, Grundy county, comprising 12 sections of land and two rural districts in Pleasant Valley township with eight sections of land.

The proposal comes within a mile of Fern school, and extends east to the Stout school district. The area takes in more than 60 sections of land.

The wave of school consolidations is sweeping over the entire state. Grundy Center has just completed successfully a plan that takes in many rural districts, and Eldora and other towns in Hardin county are in the process of consolidation. Ackley is pushing into northwest Grundy county and now Parkersburg is coming into the northeast section. The time is not too far distant when there will be no rural schools.

--Wellsburg Herald (Wellsburg, Iowa), 8 April 1954, pg 1

Only 15 Rural Schools to Open

All of the rural schools in the county closed last week. There were only 21 rural schools in operation in the county during the year. They employed 24 teachers. Holland, Stout and Timothy Christian--which are classed as rural schools--had two teachers each. Six of the rural schools that were operating this year have joined community school districts. Three of these schools are in Beaver and three are in Pleasant Valley. They have joined the community school districts at Parkersburg and Aplington.

Were 126 Rural Schools
Grundy County was organized 99 years ago. Later townships were set up, and in each township provision was made for nine school districts, and at one time there were 126 rural schools in operation in the county.

School consolidation started about 45 years ago and since that time consolidated and community school districts have been absorbing rural school districts from year to year. It may not be many years until all of the rural schools in the county will be united with community school districts.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 26 May 1955, pg 1

71 Rural Schools In County Closed The Past 20 Years

71 rural schools closed in Grundy county during the past 20 years according to a report furnished The Grundy Register by Glenn Ellinger, Deputy County Superintendent.

There were 85 rural schools in operation in the county in 1935. In 1955 there are but 14. Some of the rural schools had already quit operating up to 20 years ago and the children from those districts were sent to town schools. Originally there were nine schools for each of the fourteen townsihps in the county which made a total of 126, or 112 more than we have now.

Colfax and Beaver Have the Largest Number Operating
Colfax and Beaver have the largest number of rural schools still operating. Colfax has four and the Holland district which has two teachers. Beaver has three, and the school at Stout has two teachers. German, Palermo and Pleasant Valley each have one rural school in operation. There is also the Timothy Christian school west of Wellsburg with two teachers and Excelsior Christian in North German township.

1954 Biggest Year
The largest number of rural schools entered town districts in 1954. There were 14 districts changed that year. In 1948 there were 8, in 1953 there were 8 and in 1955 there were 7.

When Schools Closed
The table below shows the years that rural schools over the county closed the past 20 years.
1935--Washington 2
1936--Felix 5
1940--Colfax 2, Pleasant Valley 3, and Washington 1
1941--Grant 1 and Melrose 5
1942--Felix 6, German 8, and Palermo 5
1943--Beaver 3 and Grant 5
1944--Clay 2 and Palermo 6
1945--Clay 1, Fairfield 6, Grant 8, Melrose 1, and Washington 7
1946--Fairfield 7, Lincoln 2, Melrose 3, Melrose 4, Palermo 8, Shiloh 4, Shiloh 8 and Shiloh 9
1947--Palermo 7
1948--Beaver 6, Colfax 8, Fairfield 4, Lincoln 5, Pleasant Valley 9, Washington 4, Washington 5, and Washington 6
1949--Felix 3
1950--Grant 7
1951--Lincoln 8 and Pleasant Valley 6
1952--Beaver 1, Fairfield 9, Palermo 3 and Morrison Independent School
1953--Colfax 3, Colfax 4, Fairfield 3, German 7, Lincoln 3, Melrose 2, Shiloh 2, and Shiloh 3
1954--German 2, German 4, German 5, German 6, German 9, Lincoln 4, Lincoln 9, Melrose 6, Melrose 7, Melrose 8, Palermo 9, Palermo 10, Pleasant Valley 5, and Pleasant Valley 8
1955--Beaver 2, Beaver 7, Beaver 8, German 1, Pleasant Valley 1, Pleasant Valley 2, and Pleasant Valley 4

Still Operating--Beaver 4, Beaver 5, Beaver 9, Colfax 1, Colfax 5, Colfax 6, Colfax 9, German 3, Palermo 4, Pleasant Valley 7, Holland Independent School, Stout Independent School, Timothy Christian, and Excelsior Christian.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 8 September 1955, pg 1

Dike School and Fern; Stout to Vote on Merger

Voters in the Dike Community School District and the Beaver No. 9 rural independent school district will vote Saturday, March 10, on a proposed merger. Beaver No. 9 operates the school at Fern.

A petition containing 10 signatures from the rural district was presented to the county board of education last week, asking for the vote. The county board gave its approval.

Dike operates school buses in the Beaver No. 9 area. The Fern grade school currently has 14 pupils and the teacher is Mrs. Henrietta Fink Buck. Students in the district attend high school at Dike, and have to pay tuition. The payments will stop when the merger goes into effect July 1, if approved next week.

Voting places will be set up in the Fern schoolhouse and the Dike Legion Hall.

Dike, Stout Vote Merger March 12
Voters in the Dike district will go to the polls two days later, for the regular school election, to approve a proposed merger between Dike and the Stout independent district.

The Stout school is still in operation and has 20 pupils. Teachers are LaVine Weichers and Mrs. Mabel Becker.

If the Fern and Stout mergers are approved, only four rural school districts will exist in the entire northern tier of four townships. They are Beaver 3, 4 and 5, and Pleasant Valley 7.

Beaman To Vote on Community School
Still another issue to be decided during the school elections coming up in two weeks will be at Beaman, where voters will decide whether to change the name of that district from "consolidated" to "community school."

Approval to become a community school will make Beaman a part of the Grundy County School System. At Reinbeck, approval of a proposed merger with Voorhies will make that school a "community school" for the first time also.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 1 March 1956, pg 1

Rural Schools Closed Last Of the Week

All of the rural schools in Grundy county closed the last of the week for the summer vacation. Last of the rural schools to close is Beaver No. 5. That school will close Friday of this week. All of the rural schools held picnics on the last day, either on the school grounds or in nearby parks. The two Christian schools in the county will close the latter part of next week.

All of the rural teachers have been tendered contracts for next year and the contracts have been accepted. The salaries of the rural teachers remain about the same for the coming year. They range from $300 to $350 a month, that includes the two teachers in the school at Holland who receive $350 a month.

Rural school commencements were abandoned a few years ago after the number of rural schools had diminished to the point where it was considered inadvisable to have such exercies continued. Eighth grade diplomas are now sent to each eligible pupil from the office of the county superintendent.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 15 May 1958, pg 1

One Room School Gone From County

The last of our one room schools in Grundy county closed during the past two weeks. Where, up to 20 years ago, there were around 100 one room schools in the county that youngsters attended for nine months in the year, in the future there won't be any. The rural schools have been diminishing in number from year to year and they were gradually being absorbed by consolidated schools and in late years by community schools.

The pupils from Colfax 1 which closed for all time two weeks ago will in the future come to the Grundy Community school. Beaver No. 5 pupils will go to either Dike or Parkersburg and Pleasant Valley No. 7 pupils have not been assigned a permanent home.

Three schools that are classed as rural and that will continue are the two Christian schools, Timothy, west of Wellsburg, and Excelsior in north Grundy. There are two teachers in each of these schools. The two room school at Holland which has only eight grades will continue.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 1 June 1961, pg 11

Co. Superintendent Glenn McCoy Sets Forth Board Of Ed. Program For Year

(This is the second in a series of four consecutive weekly articles setting forth the program of the County Board of Education for the coming school year. Next week the submit is Reorganization and Special Education.)

One of the duties of the County Superintendent is the supervision of the teachers in the rural schools and for many years this duty required a gresat deal of time. Next year there will be just one rural public school operating in Grundy county. This is the two-teacher school at Holland. This past school year Beaver No. 5, Colfax No. 1 and Pleasant Valley No. 7 were in operation; however Beaver No. 5 and Pleasant Valley No. 7 will be closed as a result of reorganization. Colfax No. 1 has not bee reduced in size but the board decided to send the pupils out on tuition bases. Beaver No. 3, Colfax No. 2 and Colfax No. 5 are still independent and full size but have not been operating a school.

Holland will be supervised thru the county office. The two Christian Reformed private rural schools, Timothy Christian and Excelsior Christian, will receive some attention. Books from the county office will be circulated in the Holland, Timothy and Excelsior schools. The anatomical models which circulate among the town high school districts will also be shown in the rural schools as they were this past year. A fairly large number of film strips are in the county library and are available for use by any of the Grundy county teachers.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 29 June 1961, pg 12

What happened to the old country school buildings? Read here about some auctions and results School Auctions