Tingley Township was divided into nine school districts. Willow Shade School No. 6 was located two miles east of Tingley on the Tingley-Ellston road. The school was closed by 1950 when the rural school system in Iowa was discontinued.

In August 1917 the teacher for Willow Shade was listed as Raymond Byers
-Source: Tingley Vindicator, 23 Aug 1917

BACK ROW, L-R: Howard ENGLAND, Ellen ECKERMAN, Lawrence BORRUSCH, teacher Ethel JENKS, Gladys BROWN, Florence KESTER, George KESTER.

FRONT ROW, L-R: Juanita BOWMAN, Florence ENGLAND, Rex BOWMAN, Marguerite ECKERMAN, Ila BROWN (little one), Leland SHARP, Lloyd ENGLAND, Walter BROWN, Howard BROWN, Leonard BORRUSCH.

Marie ECKERMAN TROXELL can remember when her family moved to the present [1983] Harry SKARDA farm, the house having been moved from town. Marie, Ellen, and Marguerite attended Willow Shade country school down the hill north of them. (The big ditch north of Harry's today didn't used to be there.) When there was snow on the ground, the girls could start on their sleds at the barn and go down the hill north through the pasture and slide clear to the schoolhouse. Marguerite was 7, Ellen 8, and Marie was 11 about this time. They'd also take their ice skates to school with them to use during recesses. They were allowed 15 minute recesses morning and afternoon; however, they could only use 5 minutes in running outside to the toilet so they could save up the unused 20 minutes. That would give them an hour and 20 minutes for their noon hour to cut across the field a quarter of a mile to Grandpa WEEDA'S pond to go ice skating. Some of the other children were Howard, Florence, and Lloyd ENGLAND, the Lee BROWN children and the KESTER children.

~ Tingley, Iowa Centennial: 1883 - 1983. p. 37. PSI, Inc. Belmond IA. 1983.
Courtesy of Mount Ayr Public Library, September of 2011
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2011

BACK ROW, L-R: Lloyd Dean BORRUSCH, Marvin KESTER, Allen WEEDA, Floyd BORRUSCH, Barbara BORRUSCH, Rex MORRISON.

FRONT ROW, L-R: Betty BORRUSCH, Marilyn KESTER, Doris BORRUSCH.

Willow Shade School was moved into Ellston and serves as a pool hall, attached to the rear of Darlene's Place.

SOURCE: Tingley Centennial book, Pp. 128-29.

Photograph by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2009; page updated May of 2010