Wyoming Still Has Operational 1 Room School Houses

Folks in more populated states might have thought that the one-room schoolhouse died out a long time ago.

They would not have considered home schools in that case.

But what about the traditional old public school house with just a few students and one teacher?

They still exist in some Western states, like Wyoming.

Sheridan County, Wyoming still has a one-room schoolhouse.

Slack School was built back in the 1880s in Sheridan County and it's still operational.

There have been some upgrades over time.

I found a documentary from a few years ago about the school. You can watch it, below.

Gone is the old coal-burning stove that kept the classroom warm in the winter.

Gone are the handheld chark boards for kids to write on. Today they use I-Pads, which are the same size but much more useful.

The teacher must teach every grade present every day. Though, currently there are only a handful of students in the room. Just 8 kids attending at the moment.

The reason that Slack School survives, is that it would be about an hour’s ride one way for kids to attend Tongue River Elementary. That would be a hard ride on some winter mornings.

 PBS video about The Valley School in Cody, Wyoming.

In the PBS video, you'll see kids in a "bear drill," just in case a bear comes close to the school. Which does happen. Mountain lions have been seen around the school, too.

Most of the locals who keep the school going with maintenance and ground keeping, attended that very school when they were kids.