One-room Schools Alive and Well in Rural Montana

To people dwelling in urban and suburban areas, the thought of a oneroom schoolhouse is a relic from the past. It is a white clapboard building with schoolmarms and buggies tied up outside. Jump to 2023 in rural Montana, however, and the one-room schoolhouse survives.

Jacob and Michelle Dauenhauer’s ranch lies 40 miles south of Miles City and only slightly closer to Broadus. Their children—10-yearold Lander, 8-year-old Caleb and 6-year-old Grace, attend the SY school, which is just five miles north of the ranch. Michelle works on the ranch during the school year and as a fire dispatcher for the BLM out of Miles City in the summer.

During the 2022-2023 school year, five students attended the SY school ranging from kindergarten to seventh grade. Once students graduate from eighth grade, they can opt to attend high school in Broadus or Miles City, or home school, as some former students have done. This fall six students, covering eighth, seventh, fifth, third, first and a kindergartener, will matriculate at SY and will all be taught by Jerica Schatz.

Michelle believes that a one-room schoolhouse requires a special teacher who is creative and flexible. “A teacher might teach the same lesson to all the grades at once,” she explained, “but they expect different learning out of each of them. If they are teaching a science lesson, the kindergartner might learn two words whereas the eighth grader is expected to have a good grasp of the concepts.”

The reading and math lessons are individualized, and the teacher spends time with each level, each day.

“The fact that the kids receive individual attention is one of the things that I think is best about a small school,” Michelle said. “The teacher can teach to each student's level. I think children learn to work on their own because when she is teaching one level, the other ones need to be doing something. As the students get older, they assist the younger children. This gives the older ones plenty of opportunity to teach younger students and reinforce what they have already learned.” Michelle explained that her son, Lander, paid attention to what the older kids were learning in their lesson and was thrilled when it was his turn to study multiplication because he already understood it.

The ranch mom indicated that the only drawback with a small school is difficulty with extracurricular type activities.

“My kids are all in wrestling and that has worked out well, but it is tough to drive back and forth to town that much. Also, they do not have the same relationships and socialization that their wrestling teammates have who do other sports together.”

Still, she feels that the education her children receive is excellent as they get one-on-one attention, have done well in school, experience field trips and have flexibility in their schedules.

“We have a four-day week, but if we have a teacher sick on Monday, or we have a snow day, we can just say, ‘Let’s go to school Friday instead,’” Michelle noted.

She added that a smaller school forces a parent to be involved. “I have been on the school board since my son started school and I do not foresee getting off the board anytime soon. I like it because I have more input in some things, such as helping to hire a teacher and know what she is like. You can struggle to have that kind of input in other places. In my case, if there are any issues, they can be addressed quickly; there isn’t a ladder of different people you must go through. Just bring your issues to our school board and the three of us will figure it out.”

Michelle said her kids love their school and are good friends with everyone there.

“There are no bullies. Everybody must get along,” Michelle said. “Grace is head over heels that there is going to be a kindergarten student this fall. She was a kindergartner by herself last year, but she is just instant best friends with this girl.”

Being in the country does not mean the kids will be behind with technology; there is internet and the students do plenty of computer work.

All the Dauenhauer children are involved in 4-H, with Grace and Caleb in the early stages with the Clover Buds.

“I didn’t grow up with 4-H and it’s been a learning experience for all of us, but we are really enjoying it,” said Michelle. “It’s also great because it gets them socializing.”

Rebecca Colnar is Director of Public Relations for Montana Farm Bureau and a freelance writer from Custer, Montana.