Mrs. Jerry Boynton taught the first school in Byron township. The building was temporarily constructed of boards. It was located in the northwest quarter of section 5. She had a small group of pupils, fourteen in all. Section 5 is the VanNess district.
    Education was very important to the local inhabitants. In the biography of Samuel U. Towner, he noted that he left Byron township in 1855, residing with his family in Columbia, Lorain County, Ohio, chiefly for the benefit of his children to get an education, as in Byron, there was no school.
    As time went on, improvements were made and gradually schools were started. In the first schools copy books were sent out by the State and these were studied thoroughly. Early on there were no grades or report cards. Children would study from book to book that were allotted to the school.
    At the end of the term the teacher would mark the positions of study of each child on an official sheet of paper, which was handed to one of the school board members to give to the next teacher employed. In course of time, new studies were added.
    By 1860, the school population had increased to 341 students. In 1875, the districts had a summer term of ninety days. The average pay for teachers was $30.00 a month. In 1881 there was 570 students enrolled with 16 teachers in the eight schools in the district. Of course, this did not included children going to the parochial school.
    Between 1880 and 1890 the grades and report cards were introduced. At first the teachers had to buy the report cards. Subjects such as algebra, Civil Government, Physilogy, Geography and General History were added. These subjects were taught in the seventh and eighth grades. As there was no high school at that time, students could take advanced studies of subjects offered beyond the eighth grade. In 1885, two more classes were added to the Byron school, having classes from Kindergarten through tenth grade.
    In 1909, penmanship was added and in 1913, music, drawing, domestic art and domestic science were also added.
    In the early days, when a student passed the eighth grade, they could go to higher schooling at a college. When the ninth and tenth grades were added, the students received their graduation diplomas and were accredited to any college.
    In 1919 the first one-room high school became a reality with two students paying tuition. The three students who entered the twelfth grade at that time were: Floyd Baker, Leon Baker and Dorothy Haase. There were seventeen eleventh grade students and at the time of graduation, there were three: Gertrude Kerfelski, Dr. Arthur Van Solkema and Floyd Baker. It was the first twelfth grade graduation held in 1921.
    First Byron School was located on the Sebastain Feidas homestead. Today it is known as Freeland Street between Stroo’s house and Evelyn’s Beauty Salon. It was a very plain schoolhouse, it was surrounded by woods. Seats were plain benches which the children loved to carve and there was no school bell. The scholars were assembled by the teacher rapping on the windows. The schoolhouse was just one straight building with three windows on each side and one in the back. Desks were made of a slab of wood long enough for two children. Teachers desk was up in front with one chair. Nothing was painted, not even the school building. A large stove that one could put in a four foot length of wood, which was the only way of heating it in the winter time. The older boys did all the firing during the day, and the teacher was to keep the school in order and clean. In front of the school was the blackboard. Younger children would have slates to write on and the blackboard. The older children used slates, also ink, (set the ink bottle on the desk) and the teacher furnished the paper. Also, they worked their studies on the blackboard.
Some of the teachers in those days were: Jane Arnold, Mary Abbot, Fanny Towner (daughter of Smith Towner), Kelly White, Edward Miller, Anna Tobey, John Troy, Emmily Pettibone, Mell Hamond, James Kenny, Carl Ferner, DeCamp, Edward Richards, Sommer Pelton, Alice Wilson and Eva McNitt.
School was nine month period, but teacher were hired for three months at a time.
    The first procedure in the morning was roll call and then the children and teacher would sing several songs. The teacher taking the lead as there was no music written out.
    There was a fifteen minute recess in the forenoon and an hour for lunch time. Just before school was dismissed, all desks had to be in order, then roll call again to see if someone had left during the day. A child was given a reward if they were neither tardy or absent during the school term. School was from nine to four. In the summer there would be a shorter session for the younger children. For light, lanterns with tallow candles inside were used. Tallow candles were made at home. At that time the teacher’s salary was $3.00 per week and they stayed at various homes a week at a time with boarding and lodging free. At that time there were about fifteen to twenty houses in the village.
    The setting for this early school building was separated from the woods by a crooked rail fence. Mrs. S. Johnson (Minnie Hathaway) stated that the Methodist Episcopal Church was being built at the time (1872).
    There were many knot holes in the schoolhouse floor, and the children made sport of killing mice with the rules. In the winter the children placed their dinner pails on top and around the bottom of the big stove to thaw their lunch.

    Mrs. Anna (Tobey) B. Sharp, one of the earlier school teachers wrote her own obituary as follows: Anna B. Sharp was born in Massachusetts, January, 1854 and came to Byron Center with her parents in November, 1869. In the summer of 1871, taught in the little old schoolhouse that stood on the north side of Main Street, Byron Center. In 188, she was married to Peter B. Sharp of Gaines township. They had a son, Wayne A., who lives near Clarksville and with whom Mrs. Sharp had always resided in Byron Center or vicinity. She has seen Byron Center grow from a one street village of seven buildings, to the prosperous grand village. The obituary was handed to Lila M. McFall by Mrs. Sharp, who asked to see that it was published in the South Kent County News.

    The old schoolhouse was getting so dilapidated and overcrowded that it was decided to build a new one. In 1880 or 1890, a one story schoolhouse was built of brick, on the SE corner of Prescott and Church Streets, opposite corner of the M.E. Church. When the new schoolhouse was finished the pupils moved from the old to the new building. In a short time this was not large enough, then the roof was raised and the second floor was added.

    In 1901, this building had the first three grades on the main floor, and the rest were on the second floor with a recitation room for the 4^th, 5^th, 6^th and part of the 7^th grades. The principal had the rest of the 7^th, 8^th, 9^th and 10^th grades.
    Then in 1915, a new school was built on the Byron Road and that stood only a few years when it burnt at Christmas time in 1917. Temporary class rooms were erected at the town hall, G.A.R. Hall and church basements. In the summer of 1918, another school was built on the same location of brick. In 1918, the second story was added to the north part of the building. In 1927, the south side with the Gymnasium was built.

    In 1933 the kitchen and stage were built under the W. P.A. times. In 1951, bonds were sold for additional class rooms and workshop. The building was occupied after Christmas, the winter of 1952. The new twelve room high school was dedicated June 13, 1952. In 1955 bonds were issued for eight additional Elementary class rooms, gymnasium and bus storage and garage to be built.