Three Rivers High School - Reflector Yearbook (Three Rivers, MI)

Page 9 text:

SECOND WARD SCHOOL BUILDING THIRD WARD SCHOOL BUILDING FOURTH WARD SCHOOL BUILDING 5

Page 8 text:

School Buildings HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, FOURTH WARD FIRST WARD SCHOOL BUILDING 4

Page 10 text:

The Histor of Three Rivers Schools FEW years after Three Rivers was settled, the first school was or- ganized in the winter of 1834-35. It was in Third Ward in an old building known as the Mclnterfer Cabin, situated across the St. Joseph River from the shops. The first teacher was William Arney. It had an enrollment of thirty pupils. Later, the school was taught by Miss Arvilla Denno, who was the first lady teacher in Three Rivers. On December 1, 1837, a building for the purpose of a school was erected, a tax having been voted by a meeting of electors, by which one hundred dollars was to be raised to build it and five hundred dollars addi- tional to furnish it. The building was a rude plank affair, twenty-four by thirty feet, and was situated opposite the dwelling occupied at present by Mr. Beatty. In 1840 this building was moved over to what was then known as the Public Square, just west of the present First Ward building. Shortly afterward it was sold and used as a residence. In 1851 a brick school house was built on the present site of the First Ward building, and in 1853 this was enlarged. On March 28, 1890, it was destroyed by fire, but was immediately rebuilt. On January 8, 1904, it was again ruined by fire, and likewise rebuilt again, forming the present First Ward school building. In 1868 the Second Ward school building was erected at a cost of S4,500. Since then it has been altered and remodeled several times. The present Third Ward school house was built in the spring of 1884, and has since been used with no material changes. The Fourth Ward school house was also built in 1884, and has had an addition of a wing to the south side. In their early history thebschools were not graded as they are at present. The First and Second Ward schools were the only ones that con- tained any high school work at all, and the First Ward school had the only complete high school in the city. The Second Ward high school work went only as far as the tenth grade. Instead of grades, the schools were divided into four sections: the Primary, Intermediate, Grammar, and the High School. High School work was performed by the Superintendent and his pre- ceptress. Each room was heated by means of a large box stove, fed from a wood-box standing in the corner, and the big sticks of wood were carried up the two or three flights of stairs daily by the janitor. There was but one general course of study in the schools until the different subjects were divided and put into courses from which the pupil is