Spring Grove Public Schools
Spring Grove, MN

Article from the Spring Grove Herald January 7, 1937
SPRING GROVE SCHOOL OLDER THAN M.E.A.

 

  The Spring Grove school system is five years older than the Minnesota Education Association.  At a special meeting of the Commissioner’s Court of Houston County held on June 4, 1855, School District, then known as Number 10 was organized.  For two years, classes were conducted in the various homes, but in 1857 the pioneers of this locality decided to build a schoolhouse.  This building was replaced in 1872 to accommodate the increasing population.  Two one-story additions were made to this structure.

  
In 1899, the need for a larger school 
building resulted in the erection of a two-story brick school at a cost of $18,000.  This met the needs of the community for more than twenty years.  In 1922, a modern brick addition was built at a cost of $90,000.  Destroyed by fire in December, 1924, this was followed by a new school building erected on the old foundation at a cost of $120,000 including equipment and supplies.


 The first high school work was started in 1901 with English, Algebra, Latin and Physics offered.  This class was graduated in May, 1903, the high school course having covered a period of only two and one half years.  Since May, 1903 the date of the first high school graduation, Spring Grove has graduated 530 students.  With the exception of 1904, 1905 and 1911 there has been a class graduated every year.  The largest class was in 1931, numbering 44 graduates.  In 1923, a teacher training department was established and 157 have been graduated from this department.  The total enrollment of Spring Grove School at present is approximately 316 with a corps of twelve teachers.

From an 1899 issue of the Spring Grove Herald

Bids for the new schoolhouse were opened last Monday. The work will commence as soon as school closes and the old building can be remove, which will be about the middle of May. The heating apparatus is expected to cost $800, while plans and specifications cost about $150. It will then be seen that the building complete with hot air furnaces will cost within the estimated  $10,000, which must be considered very satisfactory especially in view of the great advance that has taken place in the cost of building material. Ingvald Mulller of this place has been awarded the contract for furnishing 175,000 bricks to be used in the construction of the new school This is quite a compliment to the Spring Grove brickyards.