While the politicians in the state continually talk about modernizing Iowa schools, a few schools remain throwbacks to the last century. Bill Sherman of the Iowa Preservation Alliance says some students still attend one-room schools.Sherman says 45 one-room schools in the state hold classes for around one thousand students. He says 39 of the one-room schools are run by private religious groups — the rest are part of the state system.He says the Wapsie Valley and Jesup school districts in eastern Iowa operate six schools for the Amish. Those schools have state-certified teachers and non-Amish students may attend. Sherman researched the history of one-room schools for a recent book he wrote. He says the 45 remaining one-room schools raise the most eyebrows when he talks about the subject.He says most people are surprised the schools still operate, as they assume the one-room schools went out in the 1960s. Sherman says Iowa had over 12-thousand one-room schools at their peak in the early 1900s.
