From One-Room to Many: The History of Iowa’s One-Room Schools and the Struggle for Consolidation, 1833 – 1966

Iowa’s early one-room school system helped shape both the early social and physical landscapes of the state. Toward the middle of the twentieth century, mass consolidation efforts brought the end of the system and spurred a movement away from the rural lifestyle. Much to the dismay of countryside communities, state legislation mandated that all one-room schoolhouses be closed by 1966. The effects of these consolidations can still be felt throughout the state today. Fifty-eight years after the last one-room school closed, school districts continue to merge causing smaller, ofter more rural schools to close. Waterloo itself is currently facing a major merger of its two city high schools, East and West. The arguments against it mirror those of the mid 1900s.