From left, Jon "Mark" Anderson and John Anderson hold a proclamation issued in 2020 by Butler County commissioners commending John's service as a principal of six one-room schoolhouses in the 1960s. One school he oversaw was the Foltz School in Brady Township, which has recently been restored. Molly Miller/Butler Eagle

The Foltz one-room school sits off of Route 8 near the Old Stone House. John Anderson, 96 year-old former educator and veteran, said he visited there often and to this day, remembers teachers he used to work with by name.

Anderson was principal over several one-room schools in the Slippery Rock School District, including Foltz School, during the 1960s. With its recent renovation, he reflected on his role in the county’s early education system.

“There were six one-room schools, and there was the Slippery Rock Lab School on SRU campus,” he said. “They had a principal there, but she didn’t have much to do with anything outside of that school, so they brought me in to satisfy that need.”

The Foltz School was estimated to have opened in the early 1800s in Brady Township and educated kindergarten through sixth grade students at various times until 1963, when it closed.

Foltz was the last remaining schoolhouse in Butler County, and when it’s students moved to bigger buildings, Anderson moved on, as well.

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