Submitted by Leona Baker, Historical Society of Salisbury Township

In early rural America, the educational norm was a one-room building presided over by a local teacher. Eight years of education was considered adequate for the farming and village lifestyle. Only boys attended, however, and girls learned their ABCs at home, if at all.

In 1834, the first Pennsylvania state free school law for children of the commonwealth was established. All children were to be educated at public expense. Specifically included was the female population. A tax, levied on all landowners of a district, would cover costs of buildings and teachers. Schoolhouses were to be primarily one-room buildings serving farm and village children "who lived within one mile of the school."

With 25 to 50 children ages 6 to 15 in one crowded building, any single school in Salisbury Township might include English and German Protestants, as well as Amish and Mennonites from all parts of Europe. Many could not speak English. Despite these difficulties, educators managed to accommodate a schedule that fulfilled the requirements of state mandates for each grade.

First on the agenda after unlocking the front door was to light a fire in the big stove after removing the ashes and coals of the previous day's fire. Then, teachers had to sweep the floor, fill ink bottles, light the kerosene lamps and have lesson plans ready for each grade. All had to be ready for students who journeyed to school without regard for weather conditions. Reading, arithmetic, geography, spelling, penmanship and simple science were taught daily, with honor to God and country emphasized.

One student chore each day was carrying in wood or coal for the stove. Few schools had wells, so older students carried buckets to the nearby farmer's well or spring for fresh water. Often a yoke was used to lighten the weight of the water brought back and placed in a cooler. A yoke is a wooden frame shaped to fit over the shoulders, with a notch to hold a pail or other burden at each end. By the 1900s, there may have been more than just one cup available at the school for the whole student body.

Order was a prime requirement of the presiding instructor. Deviation from an accepted norm might culminate in a student's being shamed or ostracized. Improper recitation often led to sitting in a corner while wearing a dunce cap, which was a tall, triangular hat that was hard to keep on. Another common disciplinary action was being spanked with a long, flat plank, which could be wielded to produce a memorable but not usually injurious thwack.

By the mid-20th century, rural Salisbury Township was changing, and the school board began considering a fully consolidated elementary school system. Salisbury Elementary School opened in 1962, with a single grade to a room. All first- through sixth-graders in the township were bused there.

A centuries-old way of life was gone. Only among the township's Amish neighbors does school with all eight grades in one room remain today.

Information comes from the new book "How They Learned Their ABCs" by Leona Baker and members of the historical society.