Exira's
First Public School
The need of schools was ever present in the
minds of the settlers so in the spring of 1858 work was started
on a school house. It was the first public building in town and
was used not only for a school but as a court house and church
services were also held in it. It was later converted into a dwelling
and was still in use today. It was the main part of the house
owned by Ray Andersen, town marshal, and was the second house
north of the Locker Plant [located at 106 N. Kilworth, north
of Jerry Johnson's house].
The school was 24x30 feet and its original cost was $1,300 which
was paid not in cash but in farm produce, labor, etc. Judge Harris
realizing that times were hard and there was very little money
in the county, devised a plan of erecting a school with only enough
money to purchase glass for the windows and a little hardware.
He planned it with the Treasurer so that a man could bring in
wheat, corn, produce or lumber and the Treasurer would give him
a receipt in full for what would ordinarily have been a cash tax
for school purposes. The workmen took grain or produce for their
wages. Thus work went on and a $1,300 schoolhouse was erected
at an expenditure of less than $100 in money.
The school was furnished in the most primitive manner. The seats
of different lengths were made of stout walnut planks with open
rail backs. The desks were also walnut and were huge boxes with
a hinged top and four legs. They were made up by Judge Harris
and A B. Houston and they were far from handsome but they made
up for it by being very substantial. A stile was built out in
front so the ladies wearing hoop skirts would not have so much
difficulty in alighting from a wagon. This building still stands
on the spot where it was built.In 1866 the first County Teacher's
Institute or Convention was held in Exira, and in 1871 a frame
schoolhouse was erected on the present school premises.
In 1880, a new schoolhouse was built near
the one of 1871 - a wooden building, and in 1897 at a school election,
it was voted to furnish the school with free textbooks
Prior to 1900 the Exira School had only the first and second year
of high school. In 1901 the third and fourth years were added.
It was a progressive action. In 1902 the school board met to organize
for the year and announced teacher's wages. The principal was
to receive $90 per month, the assistant principal and 2nd grammar
teacher was to be paid $45 and the first grammar, intermediate,
and primary teachers were on a $40 pay scale. A familiar and well-remembered
teacher, who served as assistant principal, was the late Dena
Williams.
The year 1906 was an example of the contrast of problems of fifty
years ago [now ninety-five years ago] and today. The greatest
problem, the principal said, was irregularity in attendance. The
school was delighted with a set of seven maps which the board
stretched their budget to buy. High school girls began basketball
that year. Solid geometry was a required subject.
In 1910, two seniors graduated.
The enrollment at the school in 1904 was 319 between the ages
of 5 and 21. In 1905, 275 pupils, and in 1906, 307 were enrolled.
In 1913, bonds of $28,000 (another source says $38,000) were voted for a brick school building. During the years 1914-15, the additional ground was purchased and a new brick school house was erected and equipped at a cost of $38,000. It was considered the best equipped schoolhouse of its size in the state. The old wooden building was torn down. An addition was built to this structure in 1928-1929, and some alterations were made on the old building, principally a new gymnasium and additional rooms.
Exira, in 1956, moved along with the program of the
state board of education when the people of the proposed area
voted to become the Exira Community School District. It was the
result of much effort on the part of an organized citizen's committee,
who studied the proposition to bring an understanding to the people.
The new district was in excess of 141 square miles and the enrollment
was approximately 750.
The actual valuation of the new school district was estimated
at $12,000 000. The enrollment was divided in this manner: 300
in the grades, 200 in the high school, and 250 attending rural
schools. There were 17 of the original 34 rural schools still
in operation.
In order to accommodate the influx of rural students, the board
purchased the old Dimick and Engle residences directly east of
the school building, and moved in a rural school building which
served as the music department [now a garage next to the grade
school].
Statistics: $240,000 budget, 45 teachers, 6 bus drivers, 3 custodians,
3 hot lunch cooks.
1957 was a year of change - 1956-57 saw 531 students attending
the combined elementary/senior high building. Naturally this was
a crowded situation. Besides the central building, there were
students attending the two remodeled dwelling houses on the school
grounds, the one rural school building which had been moved into
town, a rented shop and agriculture building in West Exira and
the 17 rural schools with a combined attendance of 251.
Early in the year as the new superintendent, Oren Brinkley, moved
into Exira, the school board (James G. Jones, Henry Beck, Arthur
Bro, Kenneth Hansen and Marion Wahlert) and a citizens committee
began the drive for a new building. In the June issues of the
Audubon County Journal reasons for the new school were given,
as well as cost estimates. Some of the arguments: 1) too many
students were crowded into too few classrooms, 2) inadequate science
facilities (Remember this was the time of the Soviet Sputnik launch.
The Journal reported two Exira families seeing the satellite orbiting
in 1957), 3) inadequate physical education facilities, 4) athletic
field several blocks from the school (all ball games were played
in the Legion Park) 5) rural schools lacked modern restroom facilities
and there was trouble adequately supervising these schools, etc.
In June, meetings were held at the Greeley Center School, the
high school, the Brayton Town Hall and Audubon Township School
#1 for concerned citizens to voice their opinions and ask questions.
The
Vote for a New Building
Finally the day to vote arrived June 27. The vote
- 573 in favor and 273 against. Sixty percent approval was needed
and sixty-eight percent was received. The new school was to be
built!
The architectural firm hired had narrowed its choice for the school's
location as either one mile east of town or one mile south. Finally
the southern location was chosen and 21 1/2 acres of land were
purchased from Charles Hensley for $18, 293.00. By December, heavy
equipment was moved in and ground breaking began. Publicity about
the new school was rather scarce again until the spring of 1959
when construction of the building neared its end. In June, several
local employees were hired by Betts and Beers of Anita to help
with the remodeling of the old school, now to become the grade
school. The wooden stairways were to be replaced with steel ones
(by an order of the fire marshal). The third floor was changed
to accommodate 11 classrooms. Twelve school buses would be used
to transport the rural students to town.
As for the new high school, its praises were scattered throughout
pages of the Journal: large classrooms and hallways, greater natural
lighting with bigger windows, a modern science lab and home economics
department, a large gymnasium, etc. It was announced that the
high school would be on a 6 period day (60 min. each) with a 45
minute lunch period. That fall, a record 852 students were enrolled.
The
Dedication Program
Although the dedication of the high school had
to be postponed November 13 due to snow, ice and high winds, on
November 23 the dreams of several members of the community were
realized as the new building was dedicated.
After a band concert directed by Franklyn Mapes, the welcome was
given by Supt. Brinkley. Rev. Lester Pearson, the Christian Church
minister, gave the invocation followed by Thomas Payne, the Citizen's
Committee Chairman, giving the recognition. An appreciation was
given by Larry Jessen, president of the student council, and a
greeting by Congressman Ben F. Jensen. Henry Beck, president of
the Board, formally presented the school to the community, followed
by a benediction given by W. W. Russell, pastor of the Federated
Church. After the program, a tour of the new school was given
and lunch was served by the P.T.A. November 23 was an evening
to be proud for Exirans. It must have seemed to be the beginning
of a new era.
For the first time, in 1959, the rural students were brought together
into one area.
Return to top of page
Visit Exira
Community School's Web Page
The following material is taken from the books 100 Years of History in Exira: 1857-1957 and Exira, Iowa: 1857-1982.