The Little Red Schoolhouse was finally completed and children ages 8 to 16 were allowed to attend the school.
In the school there were blackboards, a piano, and a library. There was a platform on the second floor for special events and used as a stage. Like schools today, they studied reading, writing, math, geography, and history. Unfortunately, many of the students who attended the original Elwood Schoolhouse are no longer with us to gather more information, but we were able to communicate with some former students who gave us a lot of information about the school.
In 1955, the Little Red Schoolhouse was built which added a second school to the Elwood School District. As the population in the community grew, there were more students, so the Little Red Schoolhouse was used in addition to the new Cuba Hill School, which eventually was renamed James Boyd Intermediate school. In the late 1950's, the Little Red Schoolhouse was still in use for first grade classes and later for fourth grade.
We had the opportunity to meet and correspond with people who were students that attended the Little Red Schoolhouse.
Here is some of the information and memories they shared when we interviewed them in 2022:
We were told the students had recess together outside on a patio behind the school. One former student who was interviewed recalled a long staircase from the second floor of the school down to the recess area. All grades in the school had recess at the same time.
One student who went to the Little Red Schoolhouse in 1964 described it as special because it looked like a school you would see on television and not like a big cement school.
Another who attended 4th grade from 1952-53 at the Little Red Schoolhouse remembered learning cursive writing. There were four classrooms and two of the classrooms were separated with big folding doors similar to ones you see in a school gym. There was a blackboard and separate desks for each student. About 20 students were in a class. The former student also remembered going to the Moose Lodge for 5th grade because the Cuba Hill School was not finished.
An additional former student remembered there were two fire escapes made out of metal and very high. Fire drills were a little "scary" and the kids sometimes would run up and down them. There also was a janitor who would smoke cigars in the school, so the smell of cigar smoke was inside the school, very different from today's rules. Outside and behind the school was a small parking area and a small hill which students had to climb to get to the field to play baseball, softball or kickball. Behind the field was a larger hill the students fondly called "Death Hill." During winter months, they prayed for snow days so they could go there to sled. The Former student remembered at that time Elwood was a very small community with many farms and forest areas.
Another person said there was no cafeteria, and the former student brought their lunch to school. They would eat in the classroom.