Schools

Shelburne Community School

By Katherine

Do you want the best education around? Do you want to know where the best place is to learn? Then come on down to the Shelburne Community School in Shelburne, Vermont.

This school has been around for 37 years. It took 2 years to build. At first it was called the Shelburne Middle School because there were only grades 4-8 on this campus. When all the children of Shelburne were put into this school it became the Shelburne Community School. There are now grades PreK through 8th grades here. It was built as a one-story building to provide an easier access for the handicapped and it was cheaper to build. They picked its floor plan so all students had easy access to the library. The building has always been a big success. The first principal's name was John Winton.

A man named Dunbar Bostwick gave the town the land for this school for $1.00!

The footprint was originally shaped like a cross but now it has a new wing on its west side. The wall design is decorative panel and the siding is flush board. It has a flat roof and and its windows and doors are plain.

Now you have been educated at the Shelburne Community School.

Village School

By Deanna

It's time for school again but not just any school, the Shelburne Village School. The Shelburne Village School was built in 1927. Mary Mills Deyett began teaching at the Village School in 1889. Her salary for the fall term was just $14.00. She soon became the principal.

In 1925 the town hall and the Village School burned down but were soon re-built in the same place. Three additions have been added on since 1948. In 1948 a gymnasium was added. Six years later a roof addition was added and in 1961 a two story north additions was added.

The footprint of my building is in a rectangular shape. It has three stories and the basement is exposed. The siding is cut stone and the roof is boomtown. A small gable roofed clapboard shed elevation once held the well and pump for the town water system.

So next time you are near the Village be sure to see the Shelburne Village School. I've never been there for school but I have for games. If I was there for school it would have been great I bet!

The Champlain Waldorf School

By Brice

Are you looking for a new school? The Waldorf School is a small private school of about 185 students. It is located on Turtle Lane in Shelburne, VT. Rudolf Steiner founded it in 1901 in Germany. It wasn't until 1985 that there was actually one here in Shelburne. The first classes they taught were kindergarten and first grade in the basement of a church. In 1989 they moved to the main building they are in now. This year the school goes from kindergarten to twelfth grade.

The school has two languages you are required to learn; French and German. The main classes are gym, painting the languages and eurhythmy, a sort of dance. They usually celebrate May Day, Michelmas, and every year the kindergarten through third grade has a lantern walk to honor Saint Michael.

The third grade goes to a farm in upstate New York every year for a week. The eighth grade goes on a trip to France or Germany annually.

The main building has an irregular footprint. It is a one-story building with a huge cathedral ceiling that lets in a lot of light. The basement is exposed and the siding is clapboard. The roof is made with eaves and rafters. The windows are all irregular and it does not have a porch. There is one other building on the campus that was built in 2000 for the kindergarten.

I am a former student of the Waldorf School and I hope you are inspired to go and look at it.

The Craft School

By Aaron

If you want to get "Crafty" come and visit the Shelburne Craft School! This paper is about the Shelburne Craft School. The building has been through a lot of interesting times. It has had a hidden past.

The main building is located on Harbor Road and is painted a beautiful red. Before the 1900's the building was a harness shop, a wagon paint shop and a stable. In 1900 the building became a meat market.

The building behind the main structure is yellow. It too has had an interesting past. In 1849 the building was built to serve as a bunkhouse for the Rail Road workers. It was located behind the Town Hall. When the railroad was completed it became a bowling alley. In 1885 it became a house for two families. In 1960, it became a youth hostel.

Reverend J. Lynwood Smith founded the Shelburne Craft Fair in 1938. He held classes in the cellar of his home. By 1941 the program was so popular they needed to find a new location. That is when the craft school moved to its current location.

The red building is two stories high. The plan is rectangular with an unexposed basement. The wood is clapboard and the roof is a gable roof with 4 sheds.

As you see the Craft School has had an interesting past. So if you are feeling "Crafty", come to the Shelburne Craft School.

The Fletcher School

By Skylar

You are going to have to go back in time to go to the best school in Shelburne! The school I am talking about is called The Fletcher School built over 100 years ago.

The Fletcher School was originally located on a road that connected Harbor Road and Bostwick Road, at the entrance to Shelburne Farms. It was built in 1900 by Robert Henderson Robertson to be a school. It opened in 1901 as the Fletcher School. The building was moved to Shelburne village in 1923 after the school was closed because most students could walk to the Village School.

It is a 1 ¾ story shingle style building with a steeply pitched gable roof that is cantilevered over the first story and supported by exposed, rounded rafter tails. The original porch along the front is now enclosed with picture windows. I feel it would have been fun to attend a one-room school. All of your classes would be in the same room!

Man, do I want to go back in time because I have learned so much about the past.

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Web page created by Lissa Cenis
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Page last updated: May 29, 2002