Outline: Diamond Valley School History

Introduction and Context

Geographic Setting

Located next door to Heritage Hall Museum

• Part of broader educational history in the region

Source Documentation

• Information compiled from community booklet created during 1989 state centennial celebration
• Community members present helped compile the historical record

Dating Clarification

• School district organized: March 10, 1882
• School building constructed: 1884
• District number: 56

Educational Context in Hutchinson County

Early Educational Development

Public schooling began in 1872 with first Hutchinson County School Board election

• Pre-1872: Education was private and home-based

Rapid School Expansion

• By 1883 legislation organizing school districts: 51 schools already operating in Hutchinson County
• Diamond Valley was among these early schools

Pre-Organization Teaching (Before 1882)

Itinerant Education

• Teachers like Christian Saner traveled to different homes to teach students
• Parents played pivotal role in homeschooling their children

Transition to Formal Organization

• District 56 organized March 10, 1882
• Shift from informal to structured educational system

Early School Locations and Operations (1882-1884)

First Location (1882-1883)

Location: Home of John Schrag

• Teacher: Christian Saner (first official teacher)

Second Location (1883-1884)

• Location: Christian Saner’s own home
• Continuity: Same teacher in different venue

Temporary Third Location (Early 1884)

• Location: Peter Spitzberger Barber’s home
• Duration: First few weeks of 1884 school year
• Reason: Until school building was completed

Permanent School Building Era (1884-1969)

Original Building Location (1884-1899)

First Year: 1884-1885 school year

• First Teacher: William Burch
• Location: Half mile south of Barber home, middle of section 11 in Valley Township
• Strategic Placement: Central location for accessibility to township children who walked to school

Relocation to Highway 81 (1899)

• Date: 1899
• Land Purchase: Peter and Susanna France sold one acre for $10 on April 6, 1899
• Distance: Moved half mile east to current highway location

Building Expansion and Improvements

• Expansion: Building extended several feet to the side
• Addition: Closed room added
• Necessity: Serving approximately 40 students
• Duration: Remained at this location until closure in 1969

School Closure and Building Relocations

Closure (1969)

Closed following second round of consolidations with Freeman Independent School District 12

Post-Closure Moves

• 1970s: Moved to Freeman, located north of Freeman Junior College/Freeman Academy
• Location Detail: Placed in lowland area formerly used as ice skating rink
• 1989: Moved to Heritage Hall Museum Archive Complex by centennial celebration

Building Maintenance and Modernization

Community-Driven Renovations

• Maintained by local community and school board throughout operation

Major Renovation Timeline

• 1925: Joseph Klein Saucer reshingled the roof
• 1931: Significant renovation year
  • Philip Monik replastered interior walls
  • Jake M. Huber rebuilt foundation
  • School board installed woven fence along Highway 81
• 1950: Jacob P. Garber installed new slate boards; J.L. Waltner painted horse barn
• 1956: School board replaced entryway flooring

Modern Amenities Added Over Time

• 1917: First set of gas lights installed
• 1930s: Added flagpole, giant stride, teeter-totter, and five-gallon water crock
• 1947: Electricity installed
• 1958: Telephone service added

Current Status and Preservation Efforts

Present Condition

• Currently needs restoration work
• Museum seeking volunteers for painting and maintenance

Historical Significance

• Represents evolution from one-room schoolhouse to modern educational facilities
• Symbol of rural education transition and community commitment to learning

Diamond Valley School – Infrastructure, Challenges, and Teaching Experiences

Building Maintenance and Community Investment (1917-1956)

Chronological Renovation Timeline

1917: First gas lights installed

• 1925: Joseph Klein Saucer reshingled the roof
• 1931: Major renovation year
  • Philip Monik replastered interior walls
  • Jake M. Huber rebuilt foundation
  • School board installed woven fence along Highway 81
• 1950: Jacob P. Garber installed new slate boards; J.L. Waltner painted horse barn
• 1956: School board replaced entryway flooring

Modern Amenities and Equipment

• 1930s: Added flagpole, giant stride, teeter-totter, and five-gallon water crock
• 1947: Electricity installed
• 1955: Outhouse rebuilt using brick (storm and Halloween-proof)
• 1958: Telephone service and cistern installed

Water Crisis and Health Concerns

Water Supply System Evolution

Pre-1958: Relied on five-gallon water crock

• 1932: Standard water container purchased for consistent supply
• 1958: Cistern installation resolved water issues

Water Usage Challenges

• Daily Demands: Five gallons served approximately 15 students, teacher, and guests
• Multiple Uses:
  • Drinking water
  • Cleaning schoolhouse and children’s hands
  • Cooking (teachers prepared hot meals)
  • Makeshift humidifier (open pot/kettle on stove)

Health Official Concerns

• Problem: Water came from multiple sources, making safety testing impossible
• Impact: County health officials couldn’t test water safety

Official Health Inspection and Critique (1938)

Dr. R.H. Payne’s Assessment

• Position: Director of Hutchinson County Public Health Unit
• Date: December 1938
• Recipient: School board clerk Joseph C. Graber

Primary Concerns Identified

• Major Issue: Lack of cistern or fountain
• Additional Problems:
  • Poor condition of old building
  • Close proximity to major road
  • Worn out blinds and stove
  • Untidy barn

Official Critique

• Quote: “We are trying to raise the standard of our schools in South Dakota, and your poor looking schoolhouse is not good advertising for our county”
• Recommendation: Immediate attention to problems

Works Progress Administration (WPA) Intervention Attempt

WPA Referral Process

Referral Source: Hutchinson County Superintendent of Schools and board of commissioners

• Programs Offered:
  • Rural school improvement program
  • Sanitary outhouse reconstruction (concrete)

WPA Proposal (March 1939)

• Source: WPA office in Mitchell, South Dakota
• Offer: Complete labor funding and partial materials funding for new schoolhouse
• School Board Response: Declined the offer

Possible Reasons for Rejection

• Recent renovations completed in early 1930s
• Potential reluctance to accept “WPA charity”
• Exact reasons remain unknown

Heating Challenges and Winter Operations

Stove Management System

Teacher Options: Light fires personally or delegate to older boys

• Critical Importance: Essential for winter classes

Extreme Weather Conditions

• Example: Martha Cheddar’s experience
  • Arrived early to frozen humidifier water
  • Water remained frozen until 10 AM
  • Canceled classes due to excessive cold

Stove Evolution Timeline

• Original: Replaced in 1919
• Second: Sears Roebuck and Company catalog model (1919-1951)
• Third: Oil stove installed in 1951

Teacher Perspective: Martha Tschetter’s Experience

Teaching Philosophy

Strong believer in rural education benefits

• Positive reflection on country school teaching experience

Educational Philosophy Quote

• “There’s nothing so powerful in the teaching, learning and sharing process that took place in the one room rural school, the natural, quiet, conservative surroundings for those children, grades one through eight, in spite of the lack of conveniences and living as one large family were the most productive for anyone”

Community Integration

• Teachers often lived with local families during hard times
• Strong belief in rural education despite infrastructure challenges

Current Preservation Status

Present Needs

• Building requires restoration work
• Museum seeking volunteer painters
• Materials provided, labor needed from community

Historical Significance

• Represents rural education challenges and community resilience
• Documents evolution from basic facilities to modern amenities
• Illustrates dedication to education despite resource limitations

Student Life, Community Activities, and Legacy

Teacher Testimonials and Educational Philosophy

Martha Tschetter’s Reflection

Quote: “The reward of those country school days is a joy love and peace, and having touched the hearts of so many lives and fine children of this community and elsewhere, I have good memories”

Elizabeth Cost Floss’s Perspective

• Teacher during WPA correspondence period
• Quote: “I look back at those days filled with pleasant memories… teaching in a country school was a real joy”

Educational Benefits

• One-room school as “one big family” environment
• Older children helping younger children with homework
• Multi-level learning: students “got taught eight times over” by completion

Student Recreation and Play

Recess Activities

Family-style bonding extended to playground

• All ages played together
• Games: “Sheep run sheep,” “Last couple out,” and others

Playground Equipment

• Teeter-totter
• Giant stride (described as dangerous but fun cross between monkey bars and maypole)

Seasonal Activities

• Winter: Hill north of school used for sledding
• Memory: Students “Bug” and “Fuzzy” shared skis with classmates (recalled by former student Florian Waltner)

Daily School Operations

School Schedule

• Hours: 9:00 AM to 3:15 PM
• Class Structure: 10-minute sessions (give or take 5 minutes)
• Seating: Active class sat at front recitation bench, others worked independently

Teaching Methodology

• Youngest students taught first
• Older students completed homework before receiving new material
• Peer tutoring system naturally developed

Curriculum and Assessment

• Subjects: Three R’s, hygiene, drawing, history, civics
• Structure: Six-week teaching units
• Testing: County superintendent distributed standardized tests
• Teachers hoped they had covered appropriate material

Compulsory Education Evolution

1950 Law Requirements

Children ages 8-16 required to attend 16 continuous weeks

• Encouragement to continue beyond age 16 if not finished

School Term Extensions

• Original: 6 months (November to April) – between harvest and planting
• 1912-1913: Extended to 7 months
• 1924-1925: Adopted 8-month term
• 1949-1950: Standard 9-month term implemented

Multiple Uses of School Building

Community Functions

Polling place

• German school
• Bible school

German Language Education

• Context: Area where German language survived longer than elsewhere
• Challenge: Many students entered speaking only German
• Approach: English taught for assimilation, German maintained in homes and summer programs
• Freeman College teachers often learned German to work in area schools
• Diamond Valley served as practice school for student teachers

Language Decline

• German began dying out at turn of 20th century
• World Wars significantly impacted German language use

Traditional Community Events

Rally Days

Activities: Track events and academic contests (spelling, cycling)

• Schools competed against each other
• Winners advanced to county competitions at Olivet or Menno
• Student Memory: Always exciting events (Florian Waltner)

Pie Socials and Basket Socials

• Purpose: School fundraisers
• Activities: Music performances and auction
• Community Participation: Brought families together
• Example: February 1913 program featured Waltner orchestra
• Instructions: “Ladies, bring pies. Gents, bring money”

Christmas Programs

• Significance: Most anticipated event of the year
• Strong community participation and student excitement

Final Christmas Program (1968-1969)

Scheduling Challenges

• Original Date: December 23, 1968
• Postponement: Due to 41 inches of snow and -21°F weather
• Actual Date: January 3, 1969
• Significance: Last Christmas program at Diamond Valley

Student Experience (Fay Garber’s Memory)

• Atmosphere: School transformed by lantern lighting
• Community: Parents squeezed into child-sized desks
• Students: Dressed in Sunday best, nervous excitement
• Behind Stage: “Pushing, shoving, giggling, scrambling”
• Emotion: “Stage fright butterflies mixed with the ham in each of us”

Museum Preservation and Ongoing Projects

Current Documentation Efforts

• Questionnaire: Collecting country school memories
• Available online and in print
• Seeking responses from former students and teachers

Upcoming Events (Year-long Exploration)

• July 26: Santo de Chisel Festival country school sessions (2:00 PM and 3:37 PM)
• September 28: One-room country school reminiscences program
• November 2: “Are You Smarter Than an Eighth Grader?” game show

Museum Exhibits

• Special education exhibit in progress
• Maps of Hutchinson and Turner County schools
• Community input welcomed for accuracy and completeness

Post-Closure School Building Fates

Common Uses After Closure

Residential: Converted to farm houses

• Agricultural: Used as garages, sheds, storage
• Public: Some became town halls or community spaces
• Revenue: Buildings sold with proceeds returned to consolidated districts

Moving Challenges

• Buildings described as “heavy to move”
• Required significant effort for relocation

Historical and Cultural Impact

Assimilation Tool

Government Policy: Rural schools as instruments of American acculturation

• German-Russian Community: Lost native language, gained American citizenship
• Standardization: Textbooks from Texas/California imposed outside cultural perspectives

Local vs. External Control

• Tension: Between local community control and state/federal oversight
• Timing: Freeman College established “50 years too late” to counter external influence
• Curriculum: Outside textbooks didn’t reflect local culture and values

Legacy and Memory

• Strong emotional connections among former students and teachers
• Ongoing efforts to preserve memories and artifacts
• Community pride in rural education heritage