The following research was compiled by a local resident in 1991.
In 1795,
Joshua Stow of Middletown, Connecticut, bought Township 3 Range 10 in
the Western Reserve for $14,154. Joshua Stow joined the first
expedition to the Western Reserve in 1796. General Moses Cleaveland
headed the expedition and Stow was the commissary. After arriving,
the explorers built a shelter for their supplies and named the
building "Stow's Castle" after Joshua Stow.
Joshua
Stow later made 13 additional trips from Connecticut to Stow. Even
though the city of Stow is named after Joshua Stow, he never became a
resident of Stow. Instead, the first resident of Stow was William
Walker of Virginia in 1802.
Walker
purchased land and built a log cabin that housed Stow's first school.
This cabin still exists inside a home at 5369 Stow Road. In 1806
Walker sold the cabin to Dennis Ryan a fellow Virginian for use as
the schoolhouse. Ryan charged $1.50 a year to teach. The first year
Ryan had 15 pupils and they came as far away as northern Hudson to
attend the school. The school year lasted only three months. In 1808
the school moved from the Walker's cabin to an empty cabin built by
Samuel Burnett at the intersection of Darrow and Graham roads. This
school was used for two years and the curriculum consisted of
reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The first
schoolhouse to be built in Stow was in 1810 near Stow Corners. The
school was originally named Wetmore but later changed to Center
School. This school was used for six years until another school was
built in 1816 near the center of Stow. Also during 1816, a school was
also built in the southern area of Stow for the children living in
what became known as Munroe Falls. There were 10 schools in the
township by 1825.
In 1835
Stow officially established its first of eight school districts. Each
district contained a one-room schoolhouse. There were three board of
education members and one clerk in each district. The subjects taught
were orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, algebra,
logic, natural philosophy, and chemistry.
Stow had
eight sub-districts by 1853. The acting director of the Stow school
district was Moses Call. The population of each school was: District
1 - 59 students, District 2 - 78 students, District 3 - 46 students,
District 4 - 26 students, District 5 - 28 students, District 6 - 33
students, District 7 - 36 students, and District 8 had 28
students.
In 1853 a
bond issue to decide the construction of a high school was defeated.
Thus, after completing Grade 8, if the students wanted to pursue
their education they had to either go to high school in Kent or
travel to Akron.
The Stow
Board of Education appointed the first textbook committee in 1871.
Prior to this time McGuffey Readers and Webster's Dictionary were
used. If the schools were to supplement their curriculum with any
other books the teachers would select books themselves. The first
textbooks selected were used until 1888. The books used in the school
library were loaned by Ohio State University.
1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys.
2. Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal
for the day's session.
3. Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual
taste of the pupils.
4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes,
or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.
5. After 10 hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining
time reading the Bible or other good books.
6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be
dismissed.
7. Every teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his
earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will
not become a burden on society.
8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form frequents pool or
public halls, or gets shaved in a barbershop will give good reason to
suspect his worth, intention, integrity and honesty.
9. The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault
for five years will be given an increase of 25 cents per week in his
pay, providing the Board of Education approves.
In 1885 Munroe Falls built a new schoolhouse on the corner of
Darrow Road and Munroe Falls Avenue. Years later, this school became
the Town Hall for Munroe Falls.
In 1897
Stow served 254 students, and in four years the district was once
again overcrowded. To help allievate overcrowding voters approved a
bond issue in 1906. The funds were used to build a centralized
three-year school high school at a cost of $12,000. Three acres of
land was purchased at the cost of $600 for the new high school. The
land and the school were located at the corner of Route 91 and Graham
Road, where the city hall presently is. While building the new school
they had one major problem: money. On April 29, 1907, the voters
approved another bond issue for $16,000 to finish the school.
In
September 1907, the old school house 3 was moved to a new site and
used as a school wagon shed. The new three-year high school was the
first centralized school in Stow. The board sold the unused
schoolhouses starting in 1908 to other school districts and
individuals.
During this
time not only were teachers being hired, but improvements were also
being added to the school. Fire escapes had to be added as ordered by
the State of Ohio. Stow also rented the Stow Church in 1908 at a cost
of $10 for their commencement exercises. The first class (of seven
girls) graduated from the new high school in 1909.
With a new
centralized school, transportation now became a problem for the
district. Many residents still favored the one-room schoolhouse
because of transportation problems. The Board of Education paid $2.50
a day to transport the pupils to school. They hired teams of horse
wagons and drivers to transport the students back and forth to the
new high school. This was the first "bus" service for Stow. By 1911
there were a total of five bus routes.
In 1909 an
addition was added to Central School. The enrollment was increasing
so fast that a section was also added to the basement of the school
in 1913. In 1914 the voters approved $20,000 to be used to build
another addition to Stow Centralized Schools.
Munroe Falls
school district joined the Stow schools in 1916. With the school
district increasing in size, the bus routes were expanded to
nine.
In 1916 a
12th grade was added to the school system. The curriculum included
Latin, algebra, English, and Science for the freshmen. The sophomores
studied Latin, algebra, English, and history. Latin or German,
geography, agriculture, and economics became the course of study for
the juniors. The senior curriculum consisted of Latin or German,
English, Physics, and a review.
The Stow
school district was active in sports during 1917. Pictures show that
both the boys and girls were able to have competitive basketball
teams.
In November 1919 the voters approved a levy for a new high school. A two-room portable classroom was added to house all students in the district.
In 1920
the first school curriculum was officially adopted to include
English, Latin, commercial law, chemistry, business office math,
general science, modern history, American history, civics household
art, biology, physics, and social problems.
By 1921
Stow had 550 students attending school and a teacher's salary was
$160 a month. There were nine students in the graduating class in
1921.
In July
1921 construction began on the high school, a first in the 175-year
history of Stow. The school, which cost $84,417, was finished in
1924. The new school was said to be the "ultimate" in schools. The
new high school was eventually called Workman, after Miss Velma
"Granny" Workman in 1968. Miss Workman joined the Stow schools in
1930. Her first graduating class of 1931 had 38 students: 19 girls
and 19 boys.
Stow
continued to grow and by 1925 the schools were once again overcrowded
and had to use portable classrooms. Voters approved an addition for
the high school. Thus, a gym and more classrooms were
constructed.
In 1926
Silver Lake also merged with the Stow-Munroe Falls School system. The
system became known at that time as the Stow Township Rural School
District. Silver Lake left this district in 1950 to merge with
Cuyahoga Falls. Prior to 1930 the Stow library was in the school. In
1930 the Stow Library left the schools and established a place of
their own. Today the Stow library is still considered Stow School
District Library.
Overcrowding
once again became a problem in 1939. To help alleviate this problem
Stow Grade School, now called Highland, was built. The school was
$145,453 with a government grant furnishing $65,453 of the total
cost.
The
students in Grades 1-6 were moved from Central School to Stow Grade
School and Grades 7 and up went to Workman However, this lasted for
only five years. As the community increased in size the students were
moved back to Central School in 1953 for classes. Grade School
classrooms held up to 45 students and the fourth- and fifth-graders
went back to the high school building.
Woodland
School and Riverview School were built in 1955. Each school had 10
rooms. In just two years, both schools were overcrowded and another
11 rooms were added.
In 1958
voters agreed to another bond issue and a new school was ready to
open in 1960. This building, Lakeview, was a junior high school and
housed the seventh grade. Once again, the school became overcrowded
and it became the high school after an addition was added in
1965.
In 1962
Stow became an independent school district. Three elementary schools
also opened around this time. Fishcreek Elementary opened in 1961;
Echo Hills in 1964; and Indian Trail School in 1969. In 1970 Kimpton,
a junior high school, open its doors to the students. Kimpton was
named after Superintendent W.B. Kimpton. Kimpton and Workman were
both junior high schools at this time.
In 1972
the school system was once again overcrowded. In an attempt to solve
the problem Kimpton, Workman, and Lakeview were reorganized. It was
decided that Kimpton would house the 7th and 8th grade students. The
high school divided with Workman housing the 9th and 10th grade
students and Lakeview the 11th and 12th graders. Schools became over
crowded in the l980's and voters approved a new school levy to build
a new high school on the 91-acre site on East Graham Road.
School
officials had a cornerstone made and buried a time capsule filled
with memorabilia and information on the construction of the new $17
million school. In 1987 the new high school was ready for occupancy.
This new high school united the secondary grades; the 9th, 10th,
11th, and 12th grade students were now housed in the same school
building.
In 1988,
the schools were again overcrowded. To help solve this problem the
sixth-graders were removed from the elementary schools and placed in
the Lakeview building. The fifth-graders followed in the fall of
1996. The old Centralized School, which had been currently occupied
by the city, was also demolished in 1988. It is believed that in 1989
the Workman School building was sold to a developer and the school
was razed.
In June
1996, Board of Education offices and the Central Office staff moved
to 4350 Allen Road. The school board purchased the building through
the unvoted debt option. In December of 1997, a local business
donated a 12x60 foot trailer that was adjoined to the southwest wall
of the Allen Road offices. The trailer had served City Wheel &
Machine as an employee training center. The Central Office Staff
Development Center has room for more than 30 people for meetings and
in-service training opportunities.
Construction began in March 1998 for a $1.2 million 10-classroom addition to the east end of the high school. The 11,250-square-foot addition includes two new science labs. The Senior Study Hall was renovated to become two classroom spaces. Construction was completed in January 1999. No bond issue was passed to fund this addition. The addition was needed due to overcrowding at the high school level.
The Kimpton Middle School also began an expansion project in June 1999. It was finished by August 2000 as teachers and students returned to school. The project included a renovated library and computer lab, four new classrooms, a multipurpose room, and science room.
As part of Phase II of a district-wide building plan, the Kimpton addition and the installation of tennis courts and additional parking at Stow-Munroe Falls High School was completed in late summer 2000. (Phase I was the addition to SMFHS that was completed in January 1999.)
The four new classrooms and science room were added to the rear of the building as it faces the football field. The addition, including storage areas, encompasses 6,200 square feet. Each classroom holds 30 students at capacity. More student lockers were added and all rooms are wired for internet access.
The total cost of the project was $974,000 including the tennis courts at the high school. The library was remodeled to 4,000 square feet, and holds a capacity of 65 students. The ceiling was lowered and new furniture added. The computer lab holds 20 students.
At Stow-Munroe Falls High School, six tennis courts were installed on an asphalt surface. There are 62 new parking spaces. The courts are enclosed by a 10-foot chainlink fence. It is located next to the Bike & Hike Trail and to the south of the football stadium.