By Ellen Knoernschild
When Leonard Harold sold lots in the Town of Augusta in the 1830s and 1840s, he set aside one block for a church and school. The school built there was used for almost 100 years. It had two rooms. As there were too many children for the building, half of the children went to school from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and the rest from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Naturally, there was lots of homework. There were six grades in the 2 classrooms.
Many of the first settlers here were well-educated in the old country, and they wanted to give their children as good an education as possible. The classes were taught in English for three days and in German for two days. Penmanship was stressed.
The school building was equipped with a large wood-burning stove in the middle of the aisle, and on both sides were rows of homemade benches with desks attached, one side for the boys and one for the girls. The front wall was covered with large maps and a homemade blackboard. There was very strict discipline. The teacher was not only permitted, but was expected to use the rod.
In those days, there was no stock law. People had to fence in their property. The school block had a good fence all around, but sometimes accidentally or on purpose, the gate would be left open, and the hogs came into the yard and tried to get in the open door of the school. The girls would scream in fright, the boys in delight. The teacher would send the bigger boys out to chase the hogs out of the yard, but the boys were not particularly anxious to get them out immediately and chased them around the yard several times.
In 1890, a new school building was constructed. In 1914 Augusta, New Hope, Salem, and Femme Osage school districts consolidated. A second story and wing were put on the building for a high school. A new school was built in 1941.
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