page_title: Kansas one room school
section_title: Arvonia
hierarchical_section_title: Kansas one room school / Notable Schools / Arvonia
caption_attribution_description: English: Arvonia Schoolhouse, Arvonia, Kansas
context_page_description: In the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century, one room schools were commonplace throughout rural Kansas. In most rural schools, all of the students met in a single room. One room meant one teacher who taught basic reading, writing, and arithmetic to both boys and girls of all grades. When one-on-one instruction was necessary, the teacher would call a student forward to the recitation desk.
  Supplies might be limited. There was a blackboard, desks or planks for children, a teacher's desk, maps, sometimes a globe and, if the teacher was musical, a piano. In the earliest days, students would often provide their own books, usually from the selection of McGuffey Readers.
  Within the school, there was always a water pail and dipper to keep one's cool during the hot summer months. Outside, not far from the front door, was the water pump. And, at a safe and hygienic distance from the school house itself, an outhouse.
  In central Kansas, it was common to find a storm shelter where children could go in the event of a tornado.
context_section_description: Once upon a time it had three stores, one hotel, one blacksmith and wagon shop, a post-office, two churches and a schoolhouse. Today, Arvonia is reduced to a few homes and the beautiful stone school.
  Arvonia was settled in 1869, by a company of Welsh people who had formed a colony, with J. Mather Jones as their leader. When the town was started, it was hoped that railroad tracks would be laid along the Marais des Cygnes valley. This failed to happen and the community withered.
caption: Arvonia, Kansas one room school
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