Did you go to a country school?

A country school is a school in a rural location that generally has grades 1-8 in one or two rooms, one or two teachers, children ride horses, walk or ride bus to school. In South Dakota there are still at least nine operating country schools for children living on remote farms and ranches, miles from town. These children will board in town during the week for their high school classes.

Some schools left it up to the kids imaginations, bopping gophers, skating and sledding, playing Fox and Goose in winter, or playing ball, like Anti-I-Over and softball. Other schools had merry-go-rounds, swings, slides, monkey bars, Giant Stride, and teeter-totters. There was usually a fence around the schoolyard - to keep the cattle out. Many schools had hand pumps for drinking water and outhouses, for boys and girls.

Many schools were closed when the school district decided to consolidate the rural schools. As populations changed, some schools were abandoned or torn down to make room for planting crops. It was wonderful when a community found another purpsoe for a school building and preserve it as well as contribute to the social center of the rural area. Some schools became community centers, libraries, museums and even private residences.