The following are excerpts from different books and cuttings from newspapers about Exira's wooden-frame school building. Some material seems contradictory, but I think you can get a rough idea of the building's history here.

Evidently, the original building was erected in 1871, then added onto in 1880 - although there will also be a reference below to 1884. I'm not sure if that's a mistake or a reference to another addition.

The [1858] schoolhouse served until 1871, when a part of the present fine schoolhouse was erected. It was at first a two-room, two-story house costing $2,800. About 1876-77 Exira was set off as an independent district, and in 1880 additions were made to the former house, making it what it now is; such additional building cost $3,500. The first to teach at Exira was Lewis Harvitt, now a well-to-do man of Panora, Iowa.

(Biographical History of Shelby and Audubon Counties Iowa, 1889)

In 1871 some money was appropriated for a brick schoolhouse, but by some mix-up, Exira ended with another wooden schoolhouse. It was a two-story two-room building. In 1884 this schoolhouse was enlarged into six more rooms. [I’m wondering if this date shouldn’t be 1880.] A high school was added in 1887. The first graduate was Jessie M. Shaw. In the library of our new building her diploma is framed. It was written by Dr. Riley who was president of the school board at that time and had formally been a penmanship teacher in Iowa City.

When the new addition was made, it left a spare room. This spare room was a source of great joy to the children. The Masons (?) kept all of their robes and hats in there. The children would slip in and play house, using these hats with their big plumes when they went visiting.

There were two grades in each room and the high school was all in one room. There was one teacher in the high school and he was also superintendent of the whole school. The high school pupils would come forth and recite their lessons on a bench in front of the room.

Each room was heated by a big stove in the back of the room. It was a frequent trick of one of the pupils to go and distract the attention of the teacher while another one put on the damper. The stove would gas so much that the pupils would have to be dismissed for the day.

In 1897 Nels Johnson came to the Exira schools as janitor. He is still with us and does his work better than ever. It would not seem right if Nels were not among us.

In 1898 a recitation room was added adjoining the main room. An assistant was then hired in the high school and the periods were a half hour long.

During these years the high school boys were kept in about a half hour longer than the girls because they teased the girls too much on the way home.

It was the wish of the pupils to have a furnace put in. However, it was opposed by many people who did not believe the building to be worth it. When it was put in the form of a vote, a group of pupils went down and voted illegally. They got their furnace.

In 1901 the third and fourth year were added to the high school.

( Kreamer, 1939)

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. [The confusion here is whether the 1880 building was separate or part of the 1871 building.]

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 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.

(100 Years in Exira: 1857-1957, 1957)