Why Wyoming Still Has One-Room Schoolhouses

The idea of one-room schoolhouses conjures up images of dirt floors, dusty chalkboards and Little House on the Prairie. But Wyoming, the least populous state in the United States, still has 18 schools with three or fewer classrooms.

Small schools and rural education in the Cowboy State are rooted in Wyoming’s constitution, which guarantees the right to education and outlines the state’s funding model. Students across the state are legally entitled to equitable access to resources, regardless of their geographic location.

“Not every state has a constitution that talks about education,” said Barbara Hickman, an assistant professor in the University of Wyoming’s College of Education. “The fact that the constitution says Wyoming citizens must properly fund our public education system is important.”

More: At Home on the Prairie: Bison Restoration on the Wind River Indian Reservation

Register to vote: Text USA TODAY reporters and election officials by joining our SMS service.

The block grant funding model establishes benchmarks for funding across the state. Counties that generate enough revenue to fund their schools independently are designated “recovery” counties and return their surplus to the state.

The majority of counties in the state are “entitlement” counties, meaning they rely on state funds and surplus counties to cover their education costs. Funding levels are adjusted for the state’s smallest districts.

“I think the model was developed to try to be equitable and adequate across the state. So if you’re a small district, you get a lot more money per student,” said Boyd Brown, the new executive director of the Wyoming Association of School Administrators.

More: Some rural areas of America are experiencing rapid change. Can higher education keep pace?

That reality is reflected in schools like Valley Elementary School in Park County, built in 1918. Nestled along the South Fork River and set against the backdrop of the Absaroka Mountains, the school serves eight students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Michelle Dean has been teaching at Valley for eight years.

The dean and other teachers at these schools face unusual challenges. In addition to grizzly-proof fencing and extremely long winters, teachers must manage multi-grade curricula and access points for students at all levels.

This spring’s project focused on vermicomposting (composting with earthworms) and challenged students to develop their own experiment. Students based their experiments on questions such as “Can worms jump?” “Do worms like music?” and “Can worms be trained to do tricks?”

“I didn’t want students to just work at their desks, at their own level. So I thought about how to bring them together and create a community of learners,” Dean said.

Dean stressed the challenge of multidisciplinary teaching, but argued that it pays off in terms of the level of individualized education students receive and said students can mentor and teach each other at all grade levels.

“Students have more freedom to explore their interests. If they need more time to work on a concept, they have it,” Dean said. “My fifth graders are very supportive of my preschoolers, and my preschoolers thrive because of it.”

Schools like Sheridan County’s Slack Elementary School, built in 1937 and nestled in the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains, often serve as anchors in some of the state’s most rural areas. Many students come from ranching families and commute to school on the same roads as their parents. School events, such as Slack’s beginning-of-year ice cream social and the annual Valley Christmas play, are gathering places for surrounding communities.

“The community showing up. It’s not just the kids that are here, it’s the community showing up, not just the kids that are here, but everyone that lives here,” said Principal Ryan Fuhrman.

Karin Unruh has been teaching at Bondurant Elementary School in Sublette County for more than a decade and said one of her favorite parts of the job is being part of the community. She is a firm believer in the quality of education available in Wyoming’s smaller communities.

“I think a lot of people don’t understand that rural schools can still have access to very good resources and can provide a high level of education to students. Students can still learn a lot, have their needs met and get more individualized attention than they would in larger schools,” Unruh said.

Once students at Bondurant, Valley, Slack and many other small schools in Wyoming reach the age of traveling on their own, they will face hours-long bus rides to the nearest town. For Unruh, investing in rural schools is an investment in the future of communities.

“If there are no schools in the community, it’s harder to welcome new families. That’s why having a school in a community keeps the community alive and keeps people involved in the community,” Unruh said.

While these small schools may not be the cheapest way to educate students, Valley School Principal Larry Gerber says their existence is based on student needs.

“If you’re a five-year-old, do you want to spend four hours on a school bus? Is that what’s best for you? Especially for our little guys, being able to ride the bus for 15 minutes instead of two hours, that’s a huge difference,” Gerber said. “People I always talk to are always surprised that someone would pay that much for eight kids. What I always say to them is, what if one of those eight kids was yours?”

Cy Neff is a USA TODAY reporter covering Wyoming politics. You can reach him at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CyNeffNews