The Ranger Online

Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: D.A. James Two buildings from the Lower Valley School District No. 33 (1877-1966) were relocated to the Northeast Lakeview College campus on Kitty Hawk Road Feb. 21.

Media Credit: D.A. James Larry Baumann, executor of the Watts' Estate and former student of Lower Valley 1956-64.

Every time math Lecturer Larry Baumann drives into Northeast Lakeview College, he will be passing the school in which he spent the first eight years of his education, from 1956 until 1964.

The Lower Valley historical-two-room schoolhouse was moved Feb. 21 from Cibolo to its new home at the college about 10 miles away at Loop 1604 and Kitty Hawk Road.

Maxine and Lutrell Watts were both teachers at Lower Valley and their heirs, including Baumann, who is the executor of the Watts' estate, donated the building to the college in August.

The college intends to renovate the schoolhouse into a museum that will be open to the public, according to an online statement released by Kathleen Johnson-Hodge, the college's director of community and public relations.

Baumann said when he went to school, his classroom had fewer than 20 students, but not all of them were in the same grade.

Baumann said Grades 1 through 4 were taught by Mrs. Watts, while Mr. Watts taught Grades 5 through 8.

In the morning, Lutrell Watts would be standing in front of the school ringing a bell or blowing a whistle to signal the beginning of a school day, Baumann said.

"Mrs. Watts would start the day with an arithmetic class for first grade, and while she was going over the lesson, she would tell the students in the other grades to work on something else, a math chapter assignment, for example," Baumann said.

"When she was finished, she would turn to the next grade students and go over their lesson.

"Nobody talked or disturbed the class because discipline was not an issue," he added.

"Kids violating the rules might get reprimanded by Mr. or Mrs. Watts, but once that kid went home, the parent would take care of that issue for good."

Baumann said the parents took the issue of discipline seriously because everybody in the community in Cibolo knew the Wattses and respected them, and no parents wanted to be embarrassed by their kids' behavior in school.

"About 10 in the morning, we would get our recess time for about 20 minutes," Baumann said.

"The older kids played sports while the younger ones would play ground games like marbles."

At noon, the students would eat lunch outside at the picnic tables, and every student brought a lunch, Baumann said.

"When the weather was not permitting, we would eat lunch at our desks," he said. "We would be itching to get out."

Baumann said the community was tightly connected, and everybody knew each other.

"The Watts couple would organize three-act plays at the end of the semester on the front porch of the school where parents would come and watch their kids perform," Baumann said.

In preparation for the February move, all of the contents, including furniture and fixtures of Lower Valley, were carefully inventoried and boxed, and volunteers worked for several weeks to complete the inventory, Baumann said.

"Having the opportunity to inventory the artifacts was an interesting journey through time," Dr. Leanna Hale, education professor at Northeast Lakeview College, said in the statement.

"As an educator, I was able to revisit past teaching techniques and materials and note how education has changed over the years."

Dr. Martha Treviño, the district's director of college and grants development, said that the Wattses were living on the school property from 1941-66.

Consequently, when the school closed because of dwindling enrollment, the Schertz School District sold the property to the couple.

"During those times, most teachers lived on the school property in what was called teacherages because teachers were not allowed to live in rural areas," Treviño said, referring to the adjacent room that was next to the school.

"Mr. Watts was my godfather at my baptism, and he figured I would be reliable to take care of it for him," Baumann said.

Baumann said Lutrell Watts died in November 2003 and Maxine Watts died in February 2007.

"The heirs to the Wattses who donated the school were three nieces of Mrs. Watts, one brother of Mr. Watts and myself," Baumann said.

He said the Watts couple taught at Schertz Elementary School after the Lower Valley was closed.

"We thought it would be wonderful to donate the schoolhouse to Northeast Lakeview and preserve that part of Texas history and heritage," Baumann added.

Maxine and Lutrell Watts Elementary School, which opened in 1999, was dedicated to the couple.

The school, 100 Deer Meadow Road in Cibolo, is part of Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District.

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