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2017-6 Remenbrances Special Edition1 City of Schertz REMEMBRANCES Special Edition 2017-6 Produced by: Schertz Historical Preservation Committee Lower Valley School – Farewell to a Local Iconic Institution The history of education throughout the Cibolo Valley began with the arrival of the first pioneer settler families who arrived with meager resources but with a strong desire to assure their children received instruction in the English language and the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic. Their first schooling efforts centered on home schooling. One or more of the families offered their home as a classroom. Typically, a certain member of a farming community had some basic educational knowledge and was willing to guide the children of the community through very rudimentary lessons. Often reading was taught with the Bible being the instrument of choice for improving literacy. As these farming communities became more established, a professional educator was hired and one room school houses were built to provide a more structured teaching/learning environment. One such school house that served the Schertz-Cibolo Valley area was the Lower Valley School building erected in 1877. The Lower Valley School shared its anniversary date (1877) with the arrival of the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad. The school and the railroad line were situated in the area then referred to by census takers as Valley Post Office. The arrival of the railroad through the Valley area was a boon for the communities along its path. The Valley Post Office moved its location closer to the railroad tracks and changed its name to the Cibolo Valley Post Office. As the Cibolo Valley farming families set plans for the construction of their first community public school they choose the name Lower Valley School #37 in deference to the school’s location. The number designation (37) referred to it having been the 37th school in operation within the Guadalupe County Community School System.1 In 1901, Guadalupe County changed from a county school system to a district school system, and the school number changed from #37 to #33. In 1919, a fire destroyed the school building, but the Cibolo Valley citizenry quickly rebuilt the building .2 Mr. August Schmitz was the first Lower Valley schoolteacher to be hired. He, too, was a German immigrant who came to the Cibolo Valley aboard the same ship as did many of his neighbors and their children. Mr. Schmitz taught at Lower Valley School from 1877 to 1891, followed by a ten-year appointment of Mr. August Brauner. Between 1902 and 1941, a number of teachers taught at the school to include both men and women. In 1941, a married couple named Lutrell and Maxine Watts began teaching. The Wattses taught until the school was closed in 1966 (25 1 Watts, Maxine & Lutrell, History of Lower Valley School & Lower Valley Teachers, paper 1987, University of North Texas Libraries. The Portal to Texas History, Texas history .unt.edu; crediting Northeast Lakeview College, p. 1. 2 Ibid, p. 1 2 years)3 and thereafter taught for many more years at Schertz Elementary School. The Wattses purchased the school building and lived on the school grounds until their deaths. The Watts heirs donated the school building to the Northeast Lakeview College (NLC) in 2008. Subsequent to the Watts’ retirement, their name was honored by selection for placement on a new elementary school within the Schertz, Cibolo, Universal City Independent School District (SCUCISD) (Watts Elementary School). Many current Schertz/Cibolo residents were students of either Mr. Watts (6th to 10th grades) or Mrs. Watts (1st to 5th grades) or both at Lower Valley School and/or Schertz Elementary School.4 In February 2008, Lower Valley School was moved from its original location to the NLC campus. The intent of NLC was to restore the school building for use as a “living museum” and unique educational facility benefiting youth of the SCUCISD. 5 There were major expenditures by NLC to move the school building, prepare a foundation and ground site, rid the building of asbestos and lead based paint, and other tasks. After nine years of fund raising efforts, it became evident that NLC would not be able to raise sufficient funding to reach the objectives set for the building. NLC administrators concluded that the College would need to either relinquish the ownership of the building to another party (government or private) or proceed with demolition. An NLC committee was formed to explore possible solutions to transferring the building to another owner. Representatives of both SCUCISD and the City of Schertz were approached but neither expressed any interest in receiving the school building. Thus, NLC has made the commitment to have the building destroyed sometime in the near future. Contents of the school building’s classrooms (two each) have been moved into storage (desks, books, photos, etc.) and will likely be donated to SCUCISD and/or , in part, to the Schertz Chamber of Commerce for display at its office building in Schertz. Lower Valley School (circa 1943) Teachers Maxine & Lutrell Watts 3 Ibid, p.3 4 Allenger, Andrew, “The History of Education – Northeast Lakeview College Hosts the Lower Valley School District #33”, Schertz Magazine, January 2013, p. 35. 5 Ibid, p.36. 3 Lower Valley School Class of 1914 – Mrs. Cordelia Dippel –teacher Lower Valley School today at NCL Campus The loss of such an original and iconic feature of the Schertz-Cibolo school history is a “bitter pill to swallow” for those who once attended Lower Valley School and for those who value the legacy left by the many teachers and students who passed through the school building.