Historic Foltz School to educate once again
When Foltz School let out for the last time nearly 60 years ago, it seemed the end of the one-room school era in Brady Township.
Little did anyone know, class would be back in session for a new generation visiting Jennings Environmental Education Center.
The Foltz School building, sitting almost concealed by trees off Route 8 near the Old Stone House, recently received a renovation from the Moraine, McConnells Mill and Jennings Commission.
With construction nearly ended, Nancy Nalepa, project co-chair, said the building will once again be used to educate people, just in a different way.
“We wanted to get it renovated and use it for classrooms for Jennings,” she said. “We’re hoping sometime this fall to get it open.”
On Saturday, attendees of Celebrate the Bloom at Jennings were able to get a sneak peek of the building.
Nalepa said what folks will see is a project nearly 10 years in the making.
“In 2010, the manager of Jennings got funding through the (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources). A tree was growing up through it and there were structural and foundation issues, so they fixed it up,” she said. “But that money dried up.”
A group of volunteers with the commission rose to the task of replacing the 1940s wiring, ceiling and roof.
“We’re a nonprofit, so we were able to get a $100,000 grant from the Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition,” she said. “Then COVID hit, and we were shut down for a year and a half before we could do anything more.”
As restrictions eased, new windows were added to the building, and the attic was insulated by Wil Taylor, Jennings’ park manager.
Taylor said the building will have multiple uses once completed.
“We want it to be part museum, we’re not sure what that schedule will look like for that. It will represent early education in the area,” he said. “We’re going to add that to our field trip offerings and also use it as a community and classroom space.”
With the park’s passive-treatment water system just up the hill from the school, the building’s renovation provides an opportunity to expand field trip presentations for high schools and colleges.
According to Miranda Crotsley, program coordinator at Jennings, the Foltz School was named for the landowner of the hill it sits on.
“There were previous schools on that site, one was an octagonal school. The current building itself is at least the second school in that area. It was one of the last one-rooms in operation in this area,” she said.
The school is estimated to have opened in the early 1800s and educated kindergarten through six grade students until 1963, when it closed.
Crotsley said she thinks it was a goal to have a school placed every three miles so children wouldn’t have to walk far.
“The (commission) has done a lot of interviews with former students because the school was open so (long). Many people are still living and they remember their teachers,” she said. “I talked to a man who went from third to sixth grade in the 1950s, and he walked a mile to school every day.”
Taylor said it has been interesting to hear the stories surrounding the schoolhouse during the renovation project, and that the commission has worked hard to make it a reality.
“It’s been amazing to see the volunteers in action. They’re dedicated, and it’s almost done. It’s been great to work with them, and it’s been fun to witness the magic,” he said. “We’re eager to share what we’ve learned with the community.”
