One hundred twenty-five years after its construction and 35 years after reopening following renovations, 2024 is shaping up to be another noteworthy year for the Pleasant Valley School at 1901 S. Sangre Rd.
Six months ago, the Pleasant Valley School Foundation, Inc.—the nonprofit organization responsible for restoring, maintaining, and operating the schoolhouse—installed a new president, Marcia Karns. This fall, a long-awaited update will provide visiting children with an ADA-compliant bathroom and entrance.
The need for these updates has been pressing for some time. In past years, students from Jenks used to visit but stopped because the schoolhouse lacked a bathroom for students with disabilities and an accessible door for those in wheelchairs. Carolyn Confer, former president and docent of the schoolhouse, and Marcia are enthusiastic about what these new features will mean for the school.
"It's a hope and a dream that's going to become a reality," says Carolyn.
The "woodshed" has an entrance to the back but is not ADA friendly. It will be rebuilt with a ramp and ADA bathroom. Work is expected to begin early September.
The selected builder is scheduled to start work in early September.
Pleasant Valley Schoolhouse is Oklahoma's only functioning one-room school on its original low-stone foundation. The school bell is original, as are many other features like the wainscoting beneath the blackboard, a few wood and cast-iron desks, and the cutouts for inkwells in the right-hand corners.
The building itself is an experience for the senses. On the outside, the school stands quietly amidst the well-maintained grounds and nature. Upon entering the front door, you pass beneath the belfry and are greeted by earthy green walls and the gentle creaking and comforting scent of old varnished wood. It's like stepping back in time, and that's by design. "We try to keep the day they visit as close to 1899 as we can," says Carolyn.
Pleasant Valley Schoolhouse is still very much a schoolhouse, not just a museum. "Real teaching happens here just as it would on that day in 1899," said Marcia. When children attend, they dress as close to period attire as possible, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and practice penmanship with turkey feathers and nib pens.
"I like to say that George Washington might have written with that turkey pen and perhaps Abraham Lincoln might have written with that nib pen," says Marcia with a smile, "to help them understand the significance."
The upcoming changes will open opportunities for more children across the state to visit and live a day in the life of early Stillwater history. They will hear the bells, walk on the wooden floors, fetch water from the pump outside, compete in the spelling bee, and sing together.
Preserving this living museum to keep it functional and viable for the future must involve some updates. "Everybody's vision for the school is to keep it the way it is, but even the people at the Oklahoma Historical Society understand that old buildings need to be updated, and they need to be accessible," says Carolyn.
The renovation won't affect the original building but will involve replacing an add-on shed known as the 'woodshed,' which serves as a storage room and backdoor entrance. Since it's not original to the building, "[it] can come off, and then we'll build a new woodshed that has a handicapped bathroom," says Carolyn. The current boys' and girls' outhouses will be kept and available for students when they arrive in October.
Once finished, the changes won't be noticeable from the street, as the ramp will run out the back door and face the east side of the building. Marcia and Carolyn also hope to eventually add some handicapped parking spaces, though that project has not been planned yet.
An original teacher’s bell from 1899, donated to the school by Georgia Kliesen Pegorsch, the daughter of a former school board member. It rests on top of the piano at the front of the classroom at Pleasant Valley Schoolhouse.
Some things in the school are here to stay, like the original teacher's bell. It rests atop the piano by the window, mounted on a plaque commemorating its history. The bell was donated by California resident Georgia Kliesen Pegorsch from her collection of 800 bells. It was given to her by her father, who once served on the school board here. A tag on the inside reads, "Old schoolhouse 1899, Stillwater District 15." It's comforting to know that this bell, ringing around this part of Stillwater for its first 50 years, will continue to be heard by new generations of local Oklahoma youth.
