On Tuesday, May 28th, the Atlantic Lions Club opened the Country Schoolhouse in Sunnyside Park for the annual 6th grade class field trip as part of their Iowa History class curriculum and end of school year activities.   Bob Anderson provided interesting insights into what it was like for students to attend a country school.

(Photo submitted)

At one time there were as many as 149,282 one-room schoolhouses in the United States, predominantly in rural areas.  They provided education for students in kindergarten through the 8th grade, although a few students also attended the schools long enough to receive a high school diploma.  There were 12,000 to 14,000 in Iowa, depending on what report you use…more than any other state in the union, but starting in 1935 these schools began to close and students were transported via bus to consolidated schools for elementary education.  The last one-room school houses closed their doors permanently in 1967 through legislative decree.

Approximately only 2,800 one-room schoolhouses still stand in Iowa…many of them houses, garages or gradually being reclaimed by nature.  A few have been retained as museums and one of these can be found in Sunnyside Park in Atlantic.  The Bear Grove Township #5 schoolhouse was built in 1870.  It was donated to the community of Atlantic and moved to Sunnyside Park in 1960 by the Atlantic Lions.

The Lions will have the school house open again this year during the Block Party sponsored by Atlantic Parks and Rec and the Atlantic Kiwanis Club this Saturday, June 1st, from 4 to 6 PM.