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WOODLAKE SCHOOL
FINAL OPEN HOUSE
May 2, 1976
What was Woodlake School like in 1854? It was constructed of logs, just one room built by five men who were members of Richfield
Methodist Church, one of whom was General Bartholemew. This log building also served as the church and townhall.
The school year had two terms then - summer session which ran from May through August and winter session from October
through March. It was said that the school year began in the spring and went on all year, except that it wasn't allowed to
interfere with the work on crops in any way. The children came very regularly during the hot summer, but when it came time
to dig up potatoes or harvest grain the classroom would be pretty empty.
There was only one teacher for all the grades, one through eight, and children from age five to seventeen went to the
same schoolroom. Of course, there were no school busses and some students had to walk three or four miles to school.
The desks were all sizes because of the different ages, and they were placed so the smaller children sat in the front
near the teacher. When the room became too crowded for more desks, two or three students would sit at each desk. In this way,
the teacher could have as many as sixty or seventy students.
In the center of the room was a woodburning stove which was the only heat in the room. The teacher was also to keep the
stove going, the room cleaned and the snow shoveled.
When the children arrived at school, they had to memorize many of their lessons just as they were printed in the book.
There was a bench in front of the teacher's desk called a "recitation bench." The teacher would call each class
up to hear memory work or "recitations."
Paper was very scarce, so children had their own slates (small blackboards). They did all their practice writing and math
problems on these by using sharpened slate pencils. This slate was cleaned off after each use with a rag kept in their desks.
Older children were allowed to write with pen and ink. Each desk had a hole for an inkwell to be set in.
Punishment was allowed! Teachers could spank pupils for causing trouble, and a high stool in the corner called a "Dunce
Stool" was used if a crime was not severe enough for a spanking. Sometimes students would earn a spanking or a seat in
the corner wearing the pointed paper hat which called them "Dunce," because they would dip the girl's braids or
long curls in the inkwells on the top of their desk.
There were no lavatories or drinking fountains in the first schools. Every pupil used the same roller towel and washbasin
when they came in from recess with dirty hands and faces. They also all drank from the same dipper and pail, but when more
was learned about germs, children brought their own cups from home.
In those days, Woodlake students also enjoyed Woodlake. During the winter, when the lake was frozen over, they would put
on their skates and have a skating party. A bonfire would be built on the shore and cold skaters would gather to get warm,
or sing and chat.
In 1884 the log building was thirty years old and a new building was badly needed. The school board minutes of that time
called for a tax of $500 to be applied to building a new school house that should not cost more than $1,000 when completed.
By 1885 the school lot was enlarged and a plan for the second Woodlake School was approved. The new building was to be
28 x 40 feet.
About this time, the nine month school year came into existence. The new school had porches and a pump out in front. From
time to time it was necessary to buy a new stove, but most of the time all that was needed was to pay the teacher, the janitor;
purchase some wood, a few books and paint the building. Woodlake was largely a farming district and a one room school was
all that was desired.
School board meetings were held twice a year, and as the school had no electricity, residents attending meetings in the
schoolhouse had to bring kerosene lamps with them.
Woodlake students celebrated the end of each year with a picnic at Minnehaha Falls, and a great deal of planning went
into preparing for this event. All the children would meet at the school house, and then climb into wagons decorated with
the school colors. While singing or shouting the school yell, they would go north on Lyndale Avenue to Minnehaha Parkway east
to Lake Amelia (Nokomis), which at that time - was a big swamp. At Minnehaha Park there was a fine zoo, a deer park, pony
rides and a boat ride down the Mississippi River to Fort Snelling. In the evening everyone would return home tired, but happy
with the special day's activities.
By 1918, the end of World War I, Woodlake School was unable to hold more students. Adding on to the building or dividing
it into two rooms was talked about, but in 1919 the citizens voted to build a new school which was not to cost more than $18,000.
This is the present "Center Building." It consisted of four rooms on the main floor and one room for the first
grade in the basement. By 1933, five teachers were at Woodlake. This building was always over crowded. A new school was finally
planned when the "Center Building" had four basement rooms in use.
The fourth Woodlake School then came into being. In 1939 the new structure was completed, and became the beginning of
the present Woodlake building. It consisted of four classrooms, a gym and office space, at a cost of $93,000. This school
still went through the eighth grade, however, as there were no junior or senior high schools in Richfield.
The new building was very quickly overcrowded, and plans for an addition were made. At this time, the country was involved
in World War II and new construction was not allowed. To handle the rapidly growing school age population, a wooden portable
building was purchased form Minneapolis in 1944 to be used "temporarily".
This "temporary" building was used between the years of 1944 and 1971.
Finally, in 1947, the two wings containing twenty classrooms were added, and the library area enlarged at a cost of $500,000.
In 1951, Woodlake became a junior high school, In 1954 after the Junior-Senior High School was built, Woodlake became
an elementary school only for the first time in its 1000 year history. At this time, the total enrollment for kindergarten
through grade six was over 1400 students in the three buildings.
Alas, Richfield can grow no more. The boundaries once extended north to Franklin Avenue, included Edina on the west, extended
to the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers on the east, and to Bloomington on the south. Through the years we have lost land
to Minneapolis, Edina and the Airport. Children and families have moved away into new areas. Woodlake School, which began
122 years ago on an excellent site of Fort Snelling Road (66th Street) is now on a very busy street in the heart of Richfield.
Very few students live near Woodlake School because of the location of the lakes and business areas, and many students must
be bussed. Thus, in our Bicentennial Year, the present Woodlake students will become the last Woodlakers, a tradition begun
in 1854.
Woodlake School will be a memory, but no other school in Richfield could be as rich in history.
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