1-R History
Nearly 100 years after its inception, education in rural Hall County remained a monument to pioneer concepts while progressive modernization was taking place in the school system of nearby Grand Island. One-room schoolhouses remained bastions of education all over rural Nebraska with many still using outhouses and hand pumps in place of modern plumbing, even as recently as 1970. The technological era was just over the horizon, and insightful parents were realizing it was time for a change.
Nineteen-sixty began a decade of upheavals in rural education for Hall County. Several issues forced the construction and opening of "the rural high school" known as Grand Island Northwest in 1963. That event became the catalyst for taking a hard look at the shortcomings of the many one-room "feeder" schoolhouses. The Rural Education Committee remained on active status the entire decade, recording numerous marathon meetings while wrestling with dilemmas and solutions to the challenge of improving education for all the "country kids."
In 1968, informational meetings were held to determine the amount of interest in forming one large K-8 elementary school district from eight separate schools (Districts 7, 15, 18, 54, 55, 56, 71 and 32).
The result of these meetings indicated that a good majority of the voters and parents favored the concept. The joint Hall and Merrick County Reorganization of School Districts Committee then prepared a plan proposing that the eight rural districts form one large district. On October 8, 1969, a public hearing was held on this proposed new district. The vote was 25 to 10 in favor of the formation of a new district that could offer modern facilities and up-to-date curriculum offerings.
Through the joint efforts of the Hall and Merrick County Reorganization Committees, a proposal was submitted to the State Reorganization of School Districts Committee, which gave its approval to the plan. Following this, an election was called on December 30, 1969, for the purpose of voting on the proposed new district. A clear majority of the voters favored the plan, and thus, Hall County District 1-R* was born!
*Historically, a great deal of pride and loyalty was associated with the name (or district number) of each country school. When two or more schools decided to merge, it was customary for one school district's name to remain with the combined school's identity, and the other number, sadly became extinct. With the combination of eight school districts in the case of District 1-R's merger, most felt it was unfair to keep just one district's name. Some suggested that they name the new school "District 1" to signify being the first school in Hall County to complete a combined county reorganization. Former County Superintendent Betty Saunders recalls that the District 1 name already belonged to Stolley Park School, so another name would have to be adopted. So, an "R" was added to the "1" to represent "first reorganized rural school” and the name stuck. Even if at first it was only chosen as a temporary title to use for paperwork purposes, it eventually became the official name by assignment from the State Department of Education. During the first year of classes at the new 1-R building, the school board offered a contest promising a $25 savings bond to any student who could think of a better name. There were no entries.
In 2006, District 1-R School merged with Northwest High School and three other K-8 feeder schools, Cedar Hollow, Chapman, and St. Libory, to become Northwest Public Schools. At that time, District 1-R School became 1-R School, dropping “District” from its name.
Information acquired from "Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie Creek", a cookbook printed in 1997 to commemorate 25 years of "Food for the Taught" at District 1-R School (researched, written, and illustrated by Pat Mader).
