Students who attended the Little Red Schoolhouse in Morgantown gathered to look through old photos, share stories and reconnect with former classmates during an open house held on Oct. 9. Also in attendance was Florence "Flossie" Bashore, age 94, who was a teacher at the school during the final term that it was open from 1964 to 1965. She was presented an honorary citation from Rep. David Zimmerman.

The event was hosted by the school's new owners, Rozanna and Steve Leever, who opened the Red School Learning Lab at the site in September. Steve and Rozanna own the farm behind the school, and Rozanna's great-grandfather, grandfather, father and aunts and uncles all attended the school, which was known as the Maxwell Hill School. Steve taught history and coached football at Garden Spot High School, and Rozanna served for four years on the ELANCO school board.

According to http://www.redschoollearninglab.com/history, the one-room school was built in 1857 by David Mast, who owned the farm behind the school. Most recently, the building served as the Amish Mennonite Information Center, which opened in 1970.

Steve and Rozanna bought the school in the summer of 2020. "The walls are original, and all the floors are, too. There was a lot of repair work," said Rozanna. "Friends came and helped us paint."

Because the school had no indoor bathroom, a handicapped-accessible bathroom was added to the back of the building. This required breaking through the school's solid stone wall to add the extra room. "We thought about adding (the rest room) onto the side of the building, but then it would not look like a one-room schoolhouse, so we made an extension across the whole back," Rozanna noted.

Among the students on hand at the event was Fannie Stoltzfus Beiler of Gap, who attended the school from 1946 to 1954. "We did prayer, Bible reading and hymns every day before class," she recalled, noting students also played baseball on the school grounds. Those in attendance at the open house also recalled making baked potatoes in the school's pot-bellied stove.

Other points of interest about the school include the fact that Mary Lincoln, who taught at Maxwell Hill School for nine consecutive terms, was married to Samuel Lincoln, a second cousin to President Abraham Lincoln. Mary and Abe exchanged letters while the president was in office.

During Mary's tenure, children's book author Marguerite De Angelis visited the school and afterward wrote "Henner's Lydia," which was published in 1936. Many of the characters and settings in the book come from her visit to the school. The school was also featured in a July 1941 issue of National Geographic.

During the 1939-40 school term, 39 of the 47 students had the last name Stoltzfus, and the teacher was named Ada Stoltzfus.

"We knew we had to buy (the building). My husband and I are both educators, and we wanted to make it a school (again)," Rozanna said. "I'm glad that even though it has been quite a process, we did it."

The Red School Learning Lab, 2667 W. Main St., Morgantown, is currently open to fifth-grade homeschooled students. Grades six, seven and eight will be added in subsequent years. For more information, visit http://www.redschoollearninglab.com or email rleever@redschoollearninglab.com.