Walnut Grove Elementary School District #7 was a school district in

Yavapai County, Arizona Yavapai County is near the center of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 236,209, making it the fourth-most populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Prescott, Arizona, Prescott. ...

. It operated a school in the Walnut Grove area, then became a sending school district. It served Walnut Grove and Castle Hot Springs.

History

The school district began circa 1875 and its final building, a

one room schoolhouse One-room schools, or schoolhouses, were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and s ...

, was established in 1930. �
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Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

. The schoolhouse was along the

Hassayampa River The Hassayampa River (Yavapai: Hasaya:mvo or ʼHasayamcho:) is an intermittent river, the headwaters of which are just south of Prescott, Arizona, and flows mostly south towards Wickenburg, entering the Gila River near Hassayampa. Although the ri ...

. Randy Collier of ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'' described the building as "a small clapboard structure".
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. In February 1984 it had seven students, and in May 1984 it had nine students, ranging from 6 years old to 14 years old and with three Mexican ranch-residing students ungraded, and one teacher. The three Mexican children were not legally in the United States at the time. Their undocumented status became a political issue with the adult residents while the other children at the school played and socialized with them like with each other. Peter Schwepker of ''

'' stated that the student teacher ratio being low meant a lot of individualized attention in the classroom as well as flexibility with scheduling. At the same time its costs related to transportation and salary of faculty increased and there were concerns that the school could be closed. In February 1984 the annual cost of the school was $65,000. At that time a total of 20 families lived in the district. On November 14, 1984, the school board voted to change the school from K–8 to K–6, transferring the last two grades, which included two students, to schools in

Prescott, Arizona Prescott ( ) is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County. In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona T ...

. By December 1984 the sole teacher was put on paid leave, and a mother of a student served as a

substitute teacher A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is absent or unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, maternal leave and so on. "Substitute teacher" (usually abbreviated as "sub") is the most co ...

. �
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. At the end of the district's life it did not operate any schools, and most of the students within the district borders did

home schooling Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

. The district sent students opting for traditional schooling to Kirkland Elementary School ( K–8) of Kirkland Elementary School District #23 and Prescott High School of

Prescott Unified School District The Prescott Unified School District (PUSD) is a school district serving Prescott, Arizona. It operates four elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. The superintendent is Joe Howard. Service area In addition to almost all of ...

. On June 30, 2021, the district was disestablished due to insufficient numbers of students. The Kirkland district received the Walnut Grove territory to the north. The southern portion, including Castle Hot Springs Resort, was given to the

Wickenburg Unified School District Wickenburg Unified School District #9 (WUSD) is a school district headquartered in Wickenburg, Arizona. History In 1997 the question of whether the Wickenburg district and the Congress Elementary School District should merge was put on the ball ...

. no K–12 students lived in the southern section, and most of the land there was owned by the State of Arizona or the federal

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

. The assets of the Walnut Grove district were given to these two districts and the Western Maricopa Education Center (West-MEC).

References

External links

* * {{Education in Yavapai County, Arizona School districts in Yavapai County, Arizona One-room schoolhouses in Arizona 2021 disestablishments in Arizona Public K–8 schools in Arizona Public elementary schools in Arizona School districts established in the 19th century School districts disestablished in 2021 Former school districts in the United States

History

References

Further reading

External links