Many Kansans attended school in a building out in the country often referred to as a "one room school." Before school district consolidation these buildings dotted the landscape across the state.
The Kansas State Department of Public Instruction published quite a few documents to assist rural school districts at just about every level. One of the more interesting publications is a booklet with architectural plans for one and two room schoolhouses.
From the 1918 edition of this booklet, containing five optional floor plans:
"When the State Department of Education began the work of standardizing rural schools, it found the greatest obstacle to this work to be buildings planned without regard to proper lighting, ventilation and heating. Plans for modern buildings were not always accessible, so the old "box" type of buildings was erected year after year. Believing that communities and school boards were under obligations and w~re willing to provide build!ngs that would be models of beauty, dignity, utility and stability if proper plans were available, the State Department has had plans and specifications drawn for buildings of which the following floor plans are shown. Complete blue prints and specifications of buildings will · be loaned to school-district boards, through county superintendents,
and may be had on request."
So take a step back in time and look over the layout of a rural school:
For those of you interested in the history of rural education in Kansas we offer these other links:
“Why, when I was your age…” Educating Kansans 1899 – 1948 (KGI Blog article from December 2015)
Rural Kansas Schools Bibliography (provided by the Kansas Historical Society)
Rural School Days: Kansas in 1920 program for school children (provided by the Kansas Historical Society)
Kansas One Room Schools (blog)
One Room Schoolhouse Center (scroll down for Kansas links)
Rural Education Items at Kansas Memory (provided by the Kansas Historical Society)
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