Memories from a Dutchess County Schoolhouse – School #3 in LaGrange, New York
By: Ginny Russell Stoetzner, Amenia
Ginny attended the District 3 schoolhouse known as the Noxon School on Diddell Road in the Town of LaGrange in 1944. She went to that school for first grade only when she was 5 years old. The school closed in 1945. She describes her schoolhouse experience as follows:
We walked to school a half a mile each way.
My teacher at the Noxon School was Miss VanWagner . She was nice but I never saw her again in later years.
I remember the older boys going outside in the morning to pump a pail of water and putting it on the coal stove to warm. There was a holder with paper cups near the door for students who needed a drink.
The only heat was the coal stove and it was kept filled by the “big boys”. I don’t remember being cold. When it rained, or was snowy, the wet coats hung on hooks near the front door, mittens dried by the stove If you were small you tried not to get too wet or you’d go home with a wet coat and snow pants. I think I had perpetually chapped hands from the wet mittens.
Before lunch we lined up for hand washing. One boy sprinkled powdered soap and another poured a little water. We washed and were rinsed with the water falling into another pail on the floor.
There were no reading groups that I recall. Even though I do not remember learning to read or write, I certainly remember Dick and Jane. We had music class with the teacher - she played the piano while the class sang. I don't remember the desks or a library shelf but I know there was no playground. We played across the road in a field. I also remember one of the older girls always fighting with the boys and one day she chased one into the boys’ outhouse. Big trouble that day!
After school most of the kids had farm chores to do. We had chickens and a big vegetable garden. I only had to gather eggs and pull weeds-but many had to bring the cows in from the field and milk them. My first love in those years were the cowboys on TV on Saturday A.M. westerns (1949).
Before Christmas, the students began to practice for the Christmas pageant. Only two first graders were chosen to be in it, and I was picked! Both of us got to be dolls under the Christmas tree and I got to wear lipstick! I wore my "Sunday" dress and shoes(usually I had to wear old fashioned high-tops), a bonnet and of course - the lipstick. My brother was the Jack-in-the-Box and drove my parents crazy practicing at home.
The only gift I remember for the teacher was at Christmas. My mother made corsages for the teacher with "real" evergreens, holly - berries and ribbons. She made them every year for all our teachers. We did have a school Christmas tree decorated with paper chains and handmade ornaments.
One of my biggest wishes for Christmas was a bicycle…I always wanted one, but I never got it. We lived on a narrow dirt road and had a long but rutted driveway. “ Too dangerous!” according to my parents. I learned to ride on my cousin’s bike one summer while visiting in Newport, RI.
When the Noxon Road Schoolhouse closed, Ginny Russell and her brother took the bus to Raymond Avenue School in Arlington and, according to Ginny, getting a ride was fun after walking to school. She was scared at first but had a wonderful second grade teacher. Ginny ran into her when the teacher was in her 80's and she remembered Ginny’s name.
Tell us your schoolhouse story!
Tell your one-room schoolhouse story on the Indian Rock blog….for the whole world to read on the internet. We are collecting as many stories of the old fashioned one room schools as we can ..anywhere, anytime.
Send your reminiscences about your school days as a word file, and a jpeg photo (or one of your childhood drawings) to IndianRockschool@aol.com. If you are uncomfortable writing the story…just give us a punch list of the facts you remember.
We are especially looking for stories about the kids in your school, some of your most memorable teachers and what the area was like where you lived….what was the coolest prank ever pulled by the class bad boy? Did your teacher keep pet spiders? (mine did)
What was your favorite day ever at school?
Please don’t forget to include your name (and maiden name if applicable).
This is just for fun…so there are no fees involved or paid.
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