Big school! We had seven kids, all 8 grades in one room or smallest year (figure that math out!) 18 kids biggest year. 1960 to 1968. One teacher.
No running water for 1st 4 years I was there, got electricity when I was in 1st grade, wood stove until I was in 4th or so. We wore our mittens and coats until the place warmed up. Started at 40 below some days inside.
The teacher walked the longest distance, over 2 miles. she was approaching retirement. Rarely, she would allow her husband to drive her to school. She carried a full load of books and papers back and forth.
She was a huge woman, probably 300 pounds or more of blubber and muscle.
We had a couple of older "boys" who had been held back a few times and were real problems. One of them, taller than her and quite strong made the mistake of trying to hit her one day. She wielded a four foot hardwood lumber rule like a Samurai sword, amazingly fast and furious. He was shortly reduced to a quivering pile of pulp in a corner.
Behavior improved after that.
We brought in the wood, swept and mopped the floor, cleaned the chemical toilets, etc. There was no vandalism.
They closed the place and went to a union school system when I was in 8th grade.
IMHO, a huge mistake.
Do you still have the smaller schools in Ontario?
“Do you still have the smaller schools in Ontario?”
Maybe in the northern areas, I don’t know for sure. I think busing has taken away most of the smaller schools.
When I was a kid (I know ...here we go) there weren’t any school buses for the elementary students. My sisters and my brother and I walked about a mile and a half to school. When the big snow storms hit (before Algore took charge of the weather) we would sometimes go a few days before the plow would come down our road. Depending on the amount of snow, we would return to school according to our height. The taller kids would go first, a day or so later, the rest of us.
My favourite memory is of my Grade 1/2 teacher, Mrs. Oliver. She was an older lady who LOVED teaching. It was so obvious in her speech, her mannerisms, and the love of learning she instilled in us.