Early schools in Minnesota were one-room schoolhouses. The first school in Carver County, built in 1855, was located near where the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum sits. This school was replaced with the school that was later moved to the grounds of Chaska Elementary, where it remains. The very first school district in Carver County was Minnesota Public School District #1 in Carver, started 1856. This school district retained the same name for over one-hundred years. Schools were small then, and often held in the same building as the church or town meeting hall. Many schools had ties to local churches, and were what we would consider religious schools. Pioneer families with little money often only owned one book, a bible, which was used in school studies. Public schools have come a long way in Carver County since the 1850s, even since the 1950s. No public schools in the twenty-first century allow ties to religion.
In 1857, a year before Minnesota became a state, the five school districts in Carver County were Chaska, Chanhassen, Benton, Groveland, and Carver. The combined budget was seven hundred and eighty-eight dollars or four dollars and twenty-eight cents per child. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were dozens of school districts. Records from the 1949-1950 school year list about 50 separate school districts within Carver County. There were more school districts then, as travel and communication between the communities was harder, making it more difficult to have a central administration. Many school districts in the 1800s and 1900s included only one or two schools. From the 1950s to the early 1970s, districts across Carver County and Minnesota began consolidating. For example, a resolution from July 1949 discusses an order of consolidation voted on by county school board members. In the twenty-first century, Carver County is home to four school districts, with a budget in 2000 of sixty million dollars or five thousand three hundred dollars per student. Each school district is a mix of public schools, private schools, and home school groups.
Independent School District #108 is based out of Norwood Young America (NYA). Commonly called the Central School District, it is home to the Central Raiders. District #108 is the smallest school district, with only three public schools. These three schools reach students from the towns of Norwood Young America, Hamburg, and Cologne. These schools are Central Elementary School, Central Middle School, and Central High School. This district has the distinction of having the least number of schools. The district serves approximately one thousand students. As of 2013, over fifty-five percent of all certified staff had a Master’s degree or higher in there chosen field.
Waconia Independent School District #110 is based out of Waconia. It serves the cities of Waconia, New Germany, St. Bonifacius, and Minnetrista. It reaches parts of both Carver and Hennepin Counties. District #110 is home to the Waconia Wildcats. It is home to five public schools or education centers. They are Bayview Elementary School, Southview Elementary School, Clearwater Middle School, Waconia High School, and the Waconia Area Learning Center. The earliest records from this District date to 1891, although the district as it is today formed in the early 1970s. District #110 is known for its focus on agriculture and outdoor education. This incudes Clearwater Middle School’s “Edible Classroom”, and yearly trips to the Boundary Waters, among other things. The district is also known for its HERO Coalition (Helping Empower and Respect Others), dedicated to combating bullying in schools.
Watertown-Mayer Independent School District #111 is based out of Watertown and home to the Royals. The second smallest school district, it is home to four schools: a Primary School, Elementary School, Middle School and High School. Independent School District #111 serves the communities of Watertown and Mayer, and surrounding areas. It serves parts of Carver, Hennepin, and Wright Counties. Watertown’s first teacher was William P. Buck for the 1857-1858 school year. The Watertown and Mayer school districts did not combine to form District #111 until 1971.
The final district is Independent School District #112, Eastern Carver County Schools. It is by far the largest school district in Carver County with sixteen public schools. These schools are Bluff Creek Elementary, Chanhassen Elementary, Victoria Elementary, Jonathan Elementary, East Union Elementary, Clover Ridge Elementary, Chaska Elementary, Chaska Middle School East, Chaska Middle School West, Pioneer Ridge Middle School, Chaska High School, Chanhassen High School, La Academia, Kindergarten Center, Integrated Arts Academy, and the Carver Scott Educational Cooperative. With two high schools, District #112 is home to the Chanhassen Storm and the Chaska Hawks. District #112 as it currently is began July 1, 1971. District #112 is known for its diverse population, with over eleven languages spoken among its students. District schools offer immersion classrooms, daily lessons and classes taught in English and either Chinese or Spanish. This district is also one of the fastest growing in the county, with the largest class sizes and students bodies.
Turning Point: Public education has evolved greatly in the time since Carver County’s first one room school in early 1850s, ending with the solidification of the districts by combining small districts into larger ones in the 1970s.
Chronology:
- 1855: The first schoolhouse in Carver County, taught by Susan Hazeltine.
- 1856: The first School district in Carver County is Minnesota School District #1 in Carver.
- 1857: Carver County has five school districts, which are Chaska, Chanhassen, Benton, Groveland, and Carver.
- 1857: The budget for all five county school districts is seven hundred and eighty-eight dollars or four dollars and twenty-eight cents per student.
- 1891: The earliest records from District 110 date to this year.
- 1906: Chaska High School opens.
- 1950s-1971: School districts across Carver County and Minnesota consolidate into fewer school districts, each covering a larger area.
- Late 1960s-1971: District #110 as it is now is consolidated.
- 1971: Watertown and Mayer schools combine to form District #111, Watertown-Mayer School District.
- July 1, 1971: District #112 is consolidated into its current boundaries.
- 2000: The budget for all four county school districts is sixty million dollars or about five thousand three hundred dollars per student.
Bibliography:
“Carver County, Minnesota, School Officers: 1949-1950”. Carver County Historical Society Research Library subject files: Public School folder.
“Carver County School Districts, 1949-1950”. Carver County Historical Society Research Library subject files: Carver County Public Schools folder. Chaska, 1950.
Hartley, Lucie. “History of School District 112”. District 112 archives. Chaska, 1975.
Hoffman, Colleen. District #111 office. E-mail message to author, February 25, 2013.
Independent School District #108, Central School District website. Accessed February 24, 2013. http://raiders.central.k12.mn.us/isd108/
Independent School District #110, Waconia School District website. Accessed February 24, 2013. http://www.waconia.new.rschooltoday.com/
Independent School District #111, Watertown-Mayer Schools website. Accessed February 24, 2013. http://www.wm.k12.mn.us/se3bin/clientschool.cgi?schoolname=school274
Independent School District #112, Eastern Carver County Schools website. Accessed February 24, 2013. http://www.chaska.k12.mn.us/welcome.html
Johnson, Brett. District #112 office, Director of Communications and Community Relations. E-mail message to author, February 25, 2013 and February 26, 2013.
Killian, Jessica. District #110 office. E-mail message to author, February 26, 2013.
“One-Room school house”. Educational program. Carver County Historical Society.
“Order of Consolidation”. Chaska: July, 1949. Carver County Public Schools folder, Carver County Historical Society Research Library. [Description]: files showing the schools districts that once existed and what districts they were combined into.
Related Resources:
[Primary]
“Life in Carver County.” Carver County Citizen. 7 no. 2 (December 2006).
Smetana, Mary. “Recalling one-room schools”. Carver County News, December 10, 1987.
[Secondary]
Barac, Lavonne. Chaska:A Minnesota River City, Volume 1 and 2. St. Paul, MN: Carver County Public Library, 1989.
Carver County: Today and Yesterday. Compiled by the Carver County Statehood Centennial Committee, 1958.
Centennial Book Committee. MayerCenntennial, 1886-1986. Mayer, MN: 1986.
Centennial Committee. New Germany Centennial Book, 1887-1987. New Germany, MN: 1987.
Erickson, Lynne Martin and Kathryn Leide. “Bi-Folkal Kit: Remembering School Days, Lessons”. Hennepin County Library. Madison, WI: Bi-Folkal Productions, Inc.
Fisher, Leonard Everett. Schools: 19th Century America Schools (Nineteenth Century America Series). New York: Holiday House, 1983.
Fuller, Wayne Edison. One-Room Schools of the Middle West: An Illustrated History. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1994.
Hoisington, Daniel John. Chanhassen: A Centennial History. Chanhassen, MN: The Press, Banta Corporation, July 1996.
Holcombe, Maj. R.I., editor. Compendium of History and Biography of Carver and Hennepin Counties, Minnesota. Henry Taylor and Company: Chicago, 1915.
Johnson, Charlotte Mary Speikers Christensen. The History of the Watertown, Minnesota Area 1856 to 2006: 150 Years of Community Life. Watertown, MN: 2006.
Loeper, John J. Going to School in 1876. New York: Atheneum, 1984.
Mayer Booster Club. History of Helvetia-Mayer and Community. Lester Prairie, MN: Lester Prairie News, 1936.
Norwood Book Committee. Norwood Centennial, 1872-1972. Glencoe, MN: Kopy Kat Printing, 1972.
Olson, Steve. Cologne: The First 100 years. Cologne, MN: 1981.
Theen, Olive Ireland. Country School Days: The Vanished One Room School. St. Cloud, MN: Sentinel Print, Co., 1992.
Theobald, Paul. Call School: Rural Education in the Midwest to 1918. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1995.
Tremblay, Ruth and Lois Schulstad. Images of America: Carver County. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, South Carolina, 2011.
Warner, George E. and Charles M. Foote. History of the Minnesota Valley: Carver County. Minneapolis: North Star Publishing Company, 1882. Republished 1986.
Watertown Centennial: 1856 . . .1956. Watertown, MN: Watertown Activities, Inc., 1956.
[Web]
Images/Audio/Video
AV-81-6311. Photograph Collection, Carver County Historical Society, Waconia. Photographic print “First Schoolhouse in Carver Co.” Description: First Schoolhouse in Carver Co.,1855 Chanhassen Twsp. Miss Susan Hazeltine, Teacher. Rights held by the CCHS.
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