Newman School taught plenty of reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic

(Recently, I had the opportunity to sit around a table with a whole bunch of young people about my age - eighty something or other. Someone brought up the subject of one room schools and a heated discussion was off and running. The main thrust of the conversation was comparing the one room - one teacher school to what one gentleman called, “The Wasp Nest School.” I think he meant the mufti-roomed school of today. Most of the people present felt it would be a positive move to bring back the one room school for several reasons: It would be community driven rather than district controlled - kids would learn from other kids by listening to them recite - it would save money by cutting the bus system to a bare minimum - it would be teacher driven rather than administration driven. One person stated, “I think children would learn the necessary basics for a good education, learning how to read for one thing.” Another person said, “We learned that the Founding Fathers were not a rock group and we learned to respect other people and how to take responsibility for our actions and the consequences if we didn’t.”  I left the group agreeing with some and disagreeing with others but it got me thinking about how things used to be.)

Many of the old schools in Bonner County, Idaho have gone the way of time and are no more. But there is one that still stands proudly as if waiting for the children of the area to come by foot, wagon, or on horse back to get “book learning” from a tall teacher, called Oliver Turnbull.  He was not the first teacher at the school but all the children that sat with him would tell you that he was literally head and shoulders over all the others. On a still morning, if one listens with the ear of memory, you can hear the small classes being led in Bible reading, the pledge of allegiance to the flag, and a rousing rendition of the railroad song, “Casey Jones,” the only song the young teacher knew. The old log cabin building remembers well the clinking of slates, the children wiggling on home made benches, and the happy giggles as the young scholars drank one at a time from a common dipper.

The school is located near Garfield Bay about 300 feet south of Glengary Road and got its start around 1905. Like all parents the people of the community wanted their children to have the opportunity to learn, which made a school house a necessity. Jimmy Newman donated the land and the little cedar log building was put up in short order. To show their appreciation the people named the school “Newman.” Newman allowed the children to leave their horses and wagons in his barn during school hours but turned a dim eye when they started taking fruit from his orchard.

The school year ran from early spring until sometime in the fall. Winter and heavy snows signaled the beginning of vacation. All eight grades met in the one room building. The teacher made $35.00 a month plus room and board. This meant a bit of moving around from family to family that lived within walking distance of the school. The need for a larger building became evident and a frame building was built near the log cabin. The log building became the teacher’s home and it was no longer necessary to make the monthly rounds of the community. The old frame building still stands beside the log school.

As more people settled in the Glengary area, there were more children needing access to a school closer to their home.  A new district was formed and a new one-room school was built and named Meadowlark. The first class was held in 1914 and Alice Schroeder was the teacher. Meadowlark was the place of learning for all eight grades and the children of the peninsula continued to gain knowledge there until the county decided on school consolidation. Both Newman and Meadowlark were sold and Meadowlark exists only in the fond memories of those who went there to school.