Ind. 1-room schoolhouse reopens with 3 students

BRISTOL, Ind. — A one-room schoolhouse that closed last year because of the economy is housing students once again thanks to community donations. And though enrollment is down, school officials say smaller is better in many ways.

The private Kessington Christian School in Bristol has two teachers, a principal and an administrator who oversee students in preschool through high school. Enrollment peaked at 28 students about a decade ago but now consists of a seventh-grader, an eighth-grader and a preschooler who attends part-time.

Teacher Melody Dunithan told The Elkhart Truth that the low numbers have some advantages. Students can work at their own pace and teachers have more flexibility, she said.

"We offer some of the stuff the bigger schools can't," Dunithan said. That includes trips to Chicago to tour museums and other field trips.

Dunithan said the school was started by Kessington Community Church in Edwardsburg because many families weren't happy with the public school curriculum. She said some parents wanted to be able to have Bible classes, while others objected to teachings on evolution.

Opening the private school allowed them to address those issues, she said.

School officials say the biggest challenge of teaching in the one-room school is coordinating students at different levels. The school sometimes works with local homeschool groups to participate in group activities such as standardized testing.

Daniel Black, the eighth-grade student, said he misses his friends but thinks he is learning more because the environment is quieter.

"It makes me work better and go faster and makes me concentrate more," he said.

Dunithan says the school hopes to enroll at least a dozen students next year.