Students will Learn at Hutton Valley Schoolhouse Again

Neighborhood Christian Schools has teamed up with the Hutton Valley Neighborhood Watch to renovate the Hutton Valley Schoolhouse. The historic building, originally built in the 1930’s, will get back to its roots. NCS is planning to use the building for their one-room-schoolhouse classical model school, which will convene in the fall. Joel Hinds, spokesman for NCS, said the Neighborhood Watch reached out to him to offer the use of the building for the school. Unsurprisingly, the building is particularly well-suited to the plan for the classical school NCS envisions.

Hinds took Howell County News on a walk-through of the building. To date, he says more than $3,500 has been spent to refurbish the building, and that number is expected to rise to about $12,000 before they are finished. NCS and the Hutton Valley Neighborhood Watch are each contributing to the costs. The latter organization owns the building and will rent it to the school at no cost. With the considerable amount of work ahead, donations are, of course, welcome. 

The necessary work that has already taken place has been replacing ten boarded-up windows in the basement of the building. Volunteers hauled off a dump-truck load of debris from the basement and painted all the walls. On the main floor, the original chalkboard has been replaced with a whiteboard. Used light fixtures have been hung and fitted for LED lights, and the original dividing door on the ground floor has been repaired, reinstalled, and repainted. 

With two months left before the first day of school, there is still much to be done. In order to use the basement space, Hinds said a few rotting ceiling joists must be fixed, and minimal leaks must also be addressed. One of the things the school must have is a new fence to define the playground area for the students.

August 19 is the anticipated first day of school. For any families interested in enrolling students, there is still space on the roster. The single teacher who will take charge in the Hutton Valley Schoolhouse is Andrea Frescoln. Hinds said Frescoln checked all the boxes the organization had in mind for the teacher. She has a degree in elementary education from College of the Ozarks. She has a background in classical education, and she can sing the memory work necessary in this stage of the classical model. 

The school is looking for two or three faithful, skilled volunteers. Donations are respectively solicited. Tuition for families is based on a sliding scale, and the majority of students will have sponsorship needs. Donations can be made online and designated for schoolhouse renovations, sponsorship of a student, or to the general fund. Visit https://classicalncs.com/giving/