Exeter High School - Eagle Yearbook (Exeter, NE)

Page 13 text:

I rJ In the middle 1800's during the and the spinning wheel, the first school of Exeter was built. This little white school house was a typical mid-western country school. It was located along what is now Highway No. 6, then a mere country road. The children were called to school by an old fashioned bell ringing from a belfry. The moral of the school teacher seamed to be Readin', 'ritin', 'n 'rith- metic, taught to the tune of the hickory stick,” for the disci- pline was very strict. There were no definite grades but the students rose higher by passing through readers. Later because of the large number of pupils, another building was erected to accomodate the primary students. In 1881, a four roomed brick building replaced the two wooden buildings. This building was located on the site where the present school building now stands. The building was two stories high with the school bell hanging in the belfry. When more room was needed, a primary room was built on the east. Partitions were taken out of the large hall and fixed into classrooms. A large stove in each room served as a means of heating the building. Just two teachers taught in the high school. These were called the principal and assistant principal. At one time, on account of hard times, the twelfth grade was omitted from the high school course. Thus seventeen students were kept from graduating that year. This method was used only one year. The first principal of the Exeter School was Mrs. C. H. Loucks. Other principals who followed her were W. S. Wells, W. C. Picking, Mr. Peck, Mr. Howe, Mr. Jennings, and Mr. Atkins. One cold, windy night in March, 1914, between eight and nine o'clock, a passerby noticed a bright flame leaping in the sky. This flame was coming from the Exeter High School building. 0)0 ji