Brick Church School

Brick Church School. ca 1896-1918. , The Brick Church School, a wooden one-room school, stood on this site in the late 1890s. In the photograph on the left, a row of stones that formed part of the foundation is still visible. Within this one-room structure, the teacher provided instruction for students ages six through twenty-one in grades one through seven. Students walked to school, and some hiked distances well over one mile. , The school building was very different in this early period of state education as well as the circumstances for those attending. The building was heated by a potbelly stove and the wood had to be carried in each day. A bucket of fresh drinking water with a common dipper was provided for students daily. Rows of wooden benches filled each side of the room. Quite often, students were nearly the same age as their teacher. The duration of school sessions was shorter then, typically running from October through March. The shorter school year was necessary as parents needed their children to help with the fall harvest and with spring planting. Harsh winters made weather a factor in determining attendance as well. , In the state of Virginia, prior to 1870, most education was obtained through private schools or teachers. Therefore, only a very few students received any schooling. This began to change in 1870 when the General Assembly mandated that all Virginia counties establish local school boards to oversee a system of free public education. The Page County School system was established, and within the next few decades, several schools were built in each of the county's four districts including the Brick Church School in the Shenandoah Iron Works District. A deed dated January 21, 1896, states that George W. Kite and wife, Mary, sold the land for Brick Church School to the Board of Trustees for the Shenandoah Iron Works District for $10.00. Furthermore, the deed states that if and when this land ceased to be used for public school purposes, it reverted back to the grantors, the Kites. , In 1880, well before Brick Church School was established, the superintendent of Page County Schools reported to the State Board of Education that twelve schools were already operating in the Shenandoah Iron Works District. As enrollments steadily increased, the smaller one-two room schools began to close and the pupils consolidated into larger buildings. Pupils from smaller areas within the Shenandoah Iron Works District, such as the Brick Church and Ingham schools, began attending the larger Grove Hill Graded School. By 1961 only Grove Hill and Shenandoah elementary schools remained in operation in the Shenandoah Iron Works District. , In the early 1900s, parents and students began to recognize the need for a higher education beyond seventh grade. About 1915, Grove Hill was offering a two-year high school program of instruction that continued until 1931. Shenandoah High School, which offered four years of high school as early as 1924, began to enroll a few students from the Grove Hill area as early as 1929. The first public transportation provided for students traveling from Grove Hill to Shenandoah was a truck covered with canvas top and wooden benches for seats. The first actual school bus was privately owned by Mr. C.A. Shuler, and in 1931, began transporting students from Grove Hill and surrounding areas to Shenandoah High School. His son, Paul Shuler, a senior at Shenandoah High, was the driver. Page County High School, located in the Marksville district, opened in the fall of 1961. Shenandoah and Stanley High Schools were consolidated to form the student body of this new school. , The legacy of the one-room school, including Brick Church, remains a crucial part of the foundation and future of public education in Page County and all of Virginia., Ralph W. Harlow , January, 2015