About

First Sontag School

The first Sontag School was a two-room structure built in the early 1900's by Mrs. Lucy Wade as a private school. It was located two-tenths of a mile from the present school. In 1910, she turned it over to the county as a public school. After the closing of three surrounding one-room schools, (Beulah, Cooper and Strawfield), the enrollment was more than the two rooms could accommodate, so Mrs. Wade taught the 6th and 7th grades in her home. By the fall of 1921, she was also teaching the first year of high school.

It was during this session that interested parents met with the school board and pledged their financial support for the building of Sontag Junior High. Mrs. Lucy Wade and Mr. Joe W. Woody donated the land. The building was not completed until the second semester of 1912. It contained four large classrooms with closets, one small classroom, a small library, a large hall and a porch. In 1952, a heating plant and restrooms were added. Then, in 1954 and 1955, the two small rooms were enlarged from the porch space. In 1956 and 1957, three additional temporary classrooms were built, making a total of seven large classrooms.

The Sontag Junior High had served its pupils well, and it was a sad day for pupils as well as teachers when it closed its doors for the last time in the spring of 1963.

In the fall of 1963, a new and modern Sontag Elementary School was ready for occupancy. It contained twelve classrooms, a library, multi-purpose room, cafeteria, office, treatment and clinic room, restrooms, teachers' lounge and several other small rooms for specific purposes. This building served the Sontag community adequately for many years, and for the first time, provided facilities for music education, a library, speech therapy and art education. This building also saw the Sontag community through many special changes including educational television as a part of instruction, special programs for students with learning handicaps and most significantly, integration.

In 1978 this facility was enhanced even more with the addition of a new gymnasium. This allowed for a year-round program of physical education and eliminated the need of the "cafetorium" to serve as a gym.

Finally, as of the fall of 1996, an even greater improvement has taken place. We have just completed a beautiful six-room addition. This new addition, affectionately referred to as the "Pod", serves as a special instructional area specifically designed for primary classes. With this addition we now enjoy air-conditioned classrooms and a media center with state of the art computer technology.

Now the 21st Century is upon us. We are proud of the rich history of this wonderful community and look forward to meeting the challenges that lie ahead. The building stands as a symbol of quality and hard work.

Lucy Wade

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